Jews and Non-Jews in the Budapest Bar Association

Abstract Legal experts and lawyers in particular, had a uniquely important role in the process of state-building and modernization of the Habsburg Empire. After the collapse of the Monarchy, their contribution to the transition from a multinational empire to a nation-state was crucial, too. New states with different political contexts had various impacts on the profession itself and its inner life as well. Chambers were struggling to maintain their autonomy against the state, and at the same time, radically anti-Semitic ideologies were emerging within the profession and eventually came into power. This group of professionals could serve as an excellent proxy to study the complex process of social, political, and cultural developments of the elites from the imperial to interwar years and also to explore encounters between Jews and non-Jews and their changes. This paper aims to reexamine the success of the social integration of Jews in the legal profession, particularly among lawyers and the Budapest Bar Association.