Sven Schuette ousted as director of Cologne Jewish Quarter project

German archaeologist Sven Schuette has been removed as  director of the Archaeological Zone / Jewish Museum Project in Cologne, a position he has held since 2006. The decision to remove him from his post came just days after articles in Haaretz and  on AFP  quoted him as suggesting that latent anti-Semitism was behind some of the opposition to the excavations and planned museum. (See the JHE report on this.)

The Haaretz article prompted a firestorm of angry reaction in the local media.

The removal of Schuette from his position comes in the wake of years of political and economic power plays and controversy over the project.

Dr Eva Frojmovic,  the founding director of the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Leeds,  wrote in a comment on this web site that “There is a suspicition that [Schuette’s] outspoken manner has made him enemies who have the power of political and economic connections to exert pressure on the cash-strapped mayor of Cologne. The mayor of Cologne is substituting people with no track record whatsoever in Jewish history or archeology, rather than openly advertising the post.”

We hope to provide further detail on this development in the coming days.