Rav Kopel Leowenstein was born in the village of Gailingen (southern Germany bordering Switzerland) in 1843. Rav Kopel learned under Rav Azriel Hildesheimer while in Eisenstadt. In 1882 he was appointed as Rav of his hometown and later (1887) became the district Rabbi of Mosbach, Merchingen and Wertheim. A gifted writer, Rav Leowenstein wrote extensively about the history of German Jewry. He passed away in 1924.