Hermann Feiner
* 1894

Dr. Hermann Feiner, born 17 Mar. 1894 in Hamburg, died 5 July 1935 in Königstein/Taunus (suicide)

Hermann Feiner was a lawyer and musician. His father, the pedagogue Josef Feiner, was headmaster of the Anton Rée School in Hamburg in the 1920s (see Feiner, Joseph). His sister Hertha Feiner-Asmus was a teacher. Hermann Feiner attended the Wilhlem Gymnasium in Hamburg, then studied law in Kiel, Munich, and Berlin. He fought in the First World War and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and the Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg. Feiner was appointed to the bench of the Hamburg District Court in October 1921, and received his doctorate in law in 1924. He and his wife Dorothea, née Frank, had one son, Frank (*8 May 1928). Hermann Feiner was active in the Jewish Community and was closely affiliated with the Reform (Liberal) movement. He was active in the Jewish education system, and was a member (President in 1929-30) of the philanthropic Nehemia Nobel Lodge, which had its headquarters at Hartungstraße 9-11 (today the Kammerspiele theater), along with several other Jewish lodges.

After the Nazis came to power, Hermann Feiner was first transferred from the criminal courts to the civil courts, and then forced to retire on 30 June 1934. He then became the organist and pianist for the Jewish Culture Association. He must have enjoyed some renown as a musician, because his name appears in several anti-Semitic lexicons, always with the aim of denunciation.

He battled with bouts of depression as a result of his professional and social ostracism. On the advice of his doctors he spent some time in the sanatorium at Königstein in the Taunus. It was to no avail – 14 days after he arrived there, on 5 July 1935, he took his life.

His widow and son emigrated to the US in November 1938.
A Stolperstein at Sievekingplatz 1 in front of the civil courts building memorializes Dr. Hermann Feiner’s service as a judge.

Translator: Amy Lee

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.