Samson Raphael Hirsch, born in Hamburg in 1808, studied in Mannheim and Bonn before taking over the state rabbinate in Oldenburg in 1830. His main focus as rabbi was to improve the education of Jewish citizens by evaluating teachers, proposing them himself, and founding Jewish schools. In Oldenburg he also met his wife Johanna Jüdel. In the following years he still held rabbinates in Emden and Nikolsburg and in later years was considered the main advocate of the neo-orthodox movement of Judaism before he died in Frankfurt am Main in 1888.