Ottfried Fraisse

Ottfried Fraisse serves as Professor of Jewish Studies at the Oriental Institute of Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, holding the chair since 2019 after serving as interim chair from 2016-2019. He also holds positions as member of the board of directors of the IZEA and the IZP since 2020. Previously, he held academic positions at the University of Cologne and Goethe University Frankfurt, where he coordinated the graduate college 'Theology as Science - Formation Processes of Reflexivity of Faith Traditions in Historical and Systematic Analysis.'

His educational background includes an MA in Semitic Languages and Theology from the University of Amsterdam, a PhD in Judaic Studies from the Free University of Berlin (summa cum laude), and Arabic studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Goethe Institute in Damascus. He completed his habilitation at Goethe University Frankfurt in 2014 with the thesis 'Coherence of History of Science and Judaism through the Transfer Dynamics of Cultural Overlaps: The Epistemic Significance of Islam in Ignác Goldziher's Work.'

Fraisse's research centers on three overlapping fields: A) Jewish thought in MENA countries between 1750-1950, particularly examining whether a Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala or Nahda) existed in Maghreb and Mashriq; B) Relations between this thought and Europe, especially European Enlightenments and Wissenschaft des Judentums; C) Critique of orientalist and colonialist concepts in Jewish Studies. His specific interests span rabbinic Midrash, medieval Jewish-Arabic philosophy, Greek-Arabic-Jewish philosophy in medieval commentaries, Jewish philosophy of poetry and music, Judaism under Islamic rule, comparative legal interpretation in Judaism and Islam, Enlightenment and Islam, Jewish Enlightenment, and modern Jewish philosophy.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a consistent scholarly trajectory focused on the intersections of Jewish and Islamic intellectual traditions, particularly through the lens of key figures like Ignác Goldziher. His work demonstrates increasing attention to transcultural perspectives, critiquing orientalist frameworks while examining how Jewish scholarship has engaged with Islamic thought across historical periods. A notable trend is his exploration of how Jewish intellectuals navigated European intellectual traditions while maintaining connections to Islamic cultural spheres.

Fraisse directs significant research projects including the BMBF-funded 'Beyond Conflict and Coexistence - Intertwining Jewish-Arabic Knowledge Cultures' (2022-2024) and the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry-funded 'Migration and Antisemitism in the European Context. Transcultural Perspectives on Jewish-Islamic Relations in German Post-Migration Society' (2024). His earlier projects include 'Analoga - The Civilizational Project of Islamic-Jewish Cultural Hermeneutics' (2008-2011) and an international conference 'Beyond the Myth of 'Golden Spain'' (2014). These projects consistently address Jewish-Islamic intellectual history through interdisciplinary, transcultural frameworks.

His scholarly output includes major monographs such as 'Ignác Goldziher's Monotheistic Science and the Historicization of Islam' (2014) and 'Moses ibn Tibbons Commentary on the Song of Songs and His Poetic-Philosophical Program' (2004), along with numerous edited volumes that have shaped contemporary discourse in Jewish Studies and Islamic-Jewish intellectual history.