Haas, Robert Rudolf

Protestant pastor, journalist

Born: 18.08.1806 in Dillenburg

Died: after 1872

Haas studied Protestant theology and philosophy in Marburg and Göttingen, obtained his doctorate and, after attending the theological seminary in Herborn, took over the parish in Dotzheim in 1836 as successor to Pastor Johann Christian Reinhard Luja. During this time, he maintained close contact with Rabbi Abraham Geiger, one of the leading figures of Reform Judaism at the time.

Haas strongly advocated full civic recognition of Jews in civil society and called for the establishment of a faculty for Jewish studies at a university in order to make the training of rabbis and Jewish religious teachers equal to that of Christian clergymen.

After working as a pastor in Dickschied and Haiger, he resigned from the church ministry in 1848 due to differences with the church leadership and the ministry. He lived in Wiesbaden from around 1852, worked as a journalist and published several books presenting the sights of Wiesbaden and the surrounding area to spa guests. His "Wiesbadener Curkalender", first published in 1854, is particularly noteworthy. In 1852, Haas coined the term "world spa town" for Wiesbaden, which the city used to attract guests in the second half of the 19th century.