Isaak E. Lichtigfeld School at the Philanthropin (Frankfurt am Main)

The Philanthropin, founded in 1804 as a "place of humanity" by the Frankfurt Jewish community, moves into its new quarters at Hebelstrasse 15-19 in 1908. The Berlin magistrate Georg Matzdoff, together with the engineer Ernst Hiller, is awarded the contract for a new school building in the neo-Renaissance style.

The concept and furnishings follow the most current pedagogical teaching methods of the time, taking into account the separation of the sexes. This is symbolized above all by the two ornate portals: the entrance for the boys is designed with water sprites, that for the girls with mermaids, each holding a medallion with a beehive in its center: a symbol of diligence and sacrifice for the common good, the guiding principle of the philanthropist.

Under the National Socialist dictatorship, the school still exists until 1942, then the building is misused as a reserve hospital and emergency accommodation until the end of the war. Until it could be occupied again in 2006 in its original function by the Isaak Emil Lichtigfeld School, different uses determined its history.

Today, some 480 students learn at the school, which has been open to all denominations in the tradition of the Philanthropin since its founding.