After delivering lectures which attracted a great many pupils, he addressed ten prominent persons in different parts of Germany in 1872, and explained to them the necessity of organizing an Orthodox rabbinical seminary at Berlin.

In 1874, Dr. Jacob Barth, subsequently son-in-law of Hildesheimer, was added to the faculty as lecturer in Hebrew, exegesis of the Bible with the exception of the Pentateuch, and religious philosophy.

The contemporary Seminary is funded by the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, and occupies premises at the Skoblo Synagogue and Education Center in Berlin Mitte.

Graduates serve as community rabbis and as educators in Freiburg im Breisgau, Köln, Leipzig, Osnabrück, Potsdam, Frankfurt am Main and Berlin.

The major areas are classical Talmud and Halacha, and a state accredited degree in social work offered by the University of Applied Sciences - Erfurt.

The minor area includes professional qualifications such as pastoral care, bereavement counseling, and public speaking, as well as intellectual history and constitutional law.