Ellen Littmann (1909-1975) was a German-Jewish scholar of Judaism and the first woman to graduate from the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, the rabbinic seminary of German Jewry.
Rabbi Leo Baeck encouraged her to study and persuaded her parents to agree to this pursuit on the basis that Littmann would receive a teaching position after graduation.
While Littmann did not receive rabbinical ordination, she was qualified to academically teach Jewish studies.
In 1928, Littmann received a doctorate from the University of Cologne, her thesis concerned the re-admission of Jews into German towns following the Black Death.
[1][2] Rabbi Dr. Werner van der Zyl was instrumental in recruiting Littmann to her position at the college.