This book is an extraordinary and unique document that reveals the ways Prussia tried to prevent Christian-Jewish marriages on the basis of its Civil Code. In 1846 a Jewish doctor from Königsberg, Ferdinand Falkson, and his Protestant bride, Friederike Möller, were wedded in Hull, England, after they had unsuccessfully attempted to marry in Königsberg without one partner's converting. Back in Königsberg the couple was sued by a court, which finally declared their marriage as "nichtig" [invalid] and sentenced the couple to pay for the costs of the process. Falkson himself published in 1845 and 1847 a collection of papers of importance to their case under the title Gemischte Ehen zwischen Juden und Christen. Dokumente [Mixed Marriages between Jews and Christians. Documents].
The legal aspects of the question whether Christian-Jewish marriage was at all possible were determined by the Allgemeines Landrecht fC [General Laws for the Prussian States
Falkson's small book shows the different and contradictory arguments about the commensurability of Christian and Jewish marriage laws, ceremonies and contents. While the state attorney did not hesitate to quote antisemitic sources, such as Eisenmenger's Entdecktes Judentum [Judaism Unmasked], to prove the incommensurability, the Jewish authorities were divided. In his radical reform position Rabbi Samuel Holdheim saw no obstacle against Christian-Jewish marriages.
The conservative Rabbi Jacob Oettinger, on the other hand, declared Christian-Jewish marriages as invalid according to the Bible. At the same time, he tried to prove that marriage according to Judaism fulfils the same bourgeois moral values as according to Christianity. The pages scanned for the exhibition show a part of the expert report that Oettinger was asked to submit to court.
