Imhofstrasse (Schwäbisch Gmünd)

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The multi-branched Imhofstrasse (in short: Imhof ; Judenhof until 1936 ) is an area in the southeastern old town of Schwäbisch Gmünd .

history

The area of ​​today's Imhofstrasse was a Jewish quarter within the Staufer city fortifications on the south-eastern edge of the old Hohenstaufen core city . The quarter, which is slightly on the slope of the Zeisleberg, was traversed by the Tierach . Individual houses in the district have addresses from other streets, such as the Rechbergsche Scheuer , which belongs to the Rinderbacher Gasse. While city historians such as Albert Deibele in the 1930s and Klaus Jürgen Herrmann in 2012 assumed that the district had previously been settled by Jews, the Gmünder historian Klaus Graf expressed concerns, also due to the sparse sources. There is evidence of a Jewish community in Schwäbisch Gmünd as early as 1241. However, the history of the Jews in Gmünd is changeable, so in 1349 there was a pogrom against the Jews of the city in which all Jews were slain. From the beginning of the 16th century until 1802, Jews were also forbidden to settle in the city. This was due to a right of the city bought by Emperor Maximilian in 1501 and extended by Emperor Charles V in 1521.

When the building at Kornhausstrasse 21 , which borders Imhofstrasse and is part of the district, was demolished in 1991, the remains of a Romanesque stone house were uncovered. A bathing area carved into the rock was also found, which was interpreted as a Jewish ritual bath, mikveh . This bathing area has not been preserved and documented.

Finds from 2016, which aroused great media interest, nourish the assumptions of the Jewish quarter. From the new finds on the building fabric alone, no further evidence of the use of Imhofstrasse No. 9 as a synagogue has yet to be obtained. However, such use is assumed by various parties. Evidence for this is said to have been found in the Gmünd hospital archive . Among others, the Monument Foundation of Baden-Württemberg , the federal government and the Heiligenbruck Foundation support the preservation of the building and the establishment of a documentation center on Jewish life in Schwäbisch Gmünd from 1288–1802.

The district has a so-called Jewish house , also known as a Jewish school and a Jewish bath, as well as a former Jewish mill . Until 1936 the area was called Judenhof. However, it was renamed Imhof during the National Socialist era . Since the 2010s, there have been redesigns on the eastern edge of the Imhof district. On the site of the former Dehyleschen silverware factory , which was built on the site of the Rechberg house in the middle / end of the 19th century and which ceased operations in 1998, new buildings are being built.

Significant buildings

Existing buildings

Bommas coat of arms and depiction of Anna selbdritt on the house "die Katz"
Merian stitch of the city, Imhofstraße 9 is highlighted
Die Katz (Imhofstrasse 2)

Haus die Katz was built around 1770 by Syndic Peter Bommas, a relative of Johann Baptist Bommas , on medieval foundations and a cellar with barrel vaults from a previous building . It is a three-story house with a mansard roof . On the outer facade, among other things, the portal with the Bommas coat of arms and the artful grating of the skylight with the colored representation of Anna Selbdritt are worth mentioning. In the interior it has a staircase in the Rococo style . The interior of the building has also been largely expanded.

The Kätzle (Imhofstrasse 4)

Like the building at Imhofstrasse 2, " Die Katz", the Kätzle was built by Syndikus Bommas. It was built around 1770 as a two-storey mansard roof house and was therefore, as the deminutive suggests, smaller than the "Die Katz" house. In 1856/1957 the building was increased by two storeys and given a hipped roof. Is also the portal with the coat of arms Bommas worth mentioning (tree with root, on the exterior crest a tree-holding males). In the interior, as in Imhofstrasse 2, a staircase in the Rococo style is worth mentioning.

Imhofstrasse 5

The building at Imhofstrasse 5 is a late Classicist house built for Julius Rieß in 1864 by an architect Rieß from Stuttgart , which has a plastered half-timbered structure with box oriels and a staircase over a base made of ashlars .

Imhofstrasse 8

The building at Imhofstrasse 8 is a two-storey mansard roof house with a cellar with barrel vaults. It was probably built in the first half of the 18th century. In 1870 the house was extensively redesigned, but parts from the construction period can still be found in the roof beams.

Judenhaus and Imhofstraße 11 (north facades) with uncovered finds at the Judenhaus (2016)
Judenhaus (also Jewish school or synagogue; Imhofstraße 9)

The so-called Judenhaus is one of the oldest stone houses in Schwäbisch Gmünd. It was probably built in 1288. A round arched door, possibly from the 13th century, can still be seen on the ground floor. What remains unanswered is the extent to which the redesigns of 1788, which are described by Franz Xaver Debler , extended. Finds from 2016 show that the now three-story building was originally two-story and had high rooms in the lower area. Whether it was a medieval synagogue or just an aristocratic court could not be clarified on the basis of the structure. However, according to further archive finds, it is assumed that a synagogue was built. The building is currently being extensively renovated. It is to become an exhibition and event location that, among other things, processes the Jewish history of Schwäbisch Gmünd.

The building has been redesigned several times, so the cellar gate probably dates from the Baroque period . In 1890, according to an inscription in the basement area, there were redesigns, in 1965 the roof beams were partially renewed, with beams from the 13th century also being preserved there.

Imhofstrasse 11
In the foreground the south facade of Imhofstrasse 11, in the background the south facade of the house of Patritz Franz

The building at Imhofstrasse 11, which is adjacent to the "Judenhaus", is an eaves-standing , fully basement building from the early 17th century. From this period comes the jamb of the door in the north facade. The upper floors were built in half-timbered construction. The interior work dates from the late 18th century. The rococo staircase was also built in this time. The door in the south facade bears the year 1.46 in the apex , which Richard Strobel reads as 1746 .

House Patritz Franz (Imhofstrasse 13)
View of Judenbad (Imhofstrasse 17), in the foreground the gable of Haus Patritz Franz

The house of Patritz Franz was built by a trader of that name in 1774. Obviously older elements were partly taken over. It stands on the foundations of a previous medieval building from which the cellar was also taken over. The eaves-standing building was extended by a single-storey extension at the west gable in 1864. On the north facade there is a double coat of arms above the portal , with Patritz Fritzs' ( PF ) trade mark next to an unknown coat of arms with grapes . A stone-walled door from the 17th century is let into the south facade, the window grilles date from the Baroque and Rococo periods. Also a rococo staircase in the stairwell.

Judenmüller's barn (also Judenbad (parlor); Frauenbad; Imhofstraße 17)

The building at Imhofstrasse 17, which is also listed as the Judenbad in Dominikus Debler's city ​​map, for example , is an arable bourgeois house from the 17th century, which, however, has older components. The half-timbered house facing the gable only has a partial basement. In the basement there were probably stables. While a rococo spring lock on the door to the attic has been preserved in the interior , the stucco comes from the 19th century.

As early as 1361 there was probably a women's bath in the previous house. At the beginning of the 15th century, a new bathing room is mentioned in this area, which Klaus Graf attributes to a corresponding new building. The name Judenbad can be found for the first time in 1588. The bathing areas that were in the previous houses of what is now known as the Judenbad house and its area are therefore likely to have been used mainly by Christians .

Rechbergsche Scheuer

Disused buildings

Jew mill

The Jews mill was the first time in 1361 as a rollover mill testified. It was only in the first half of the 16th century that it appeared as a Jewish mill . The grain mill had an eventful history of owners and operators. Their position, which is not entirely unimportant, can sometimes be seen in a substantial sales amount. The Judenmühle was fully intact and in operation until its fire in 1887. The remains of the Mühlgraben can still be seen in the area of ​​the elevated road.

literature

  • Simon Paulus: " A very strong house built from blocks of sand". The building at Imhofstraße 9 in Schwäbisch Gmünd and its Jewish context, in: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg . Newsletter of the State Monument Preservation, Volume 47 (2018) No. 3, pp. 169–173.
  • Stefan King: " A very strong house built from blocks of sand". The history of the building in Imhofstr. 9 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, in: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg. Newsletter of the State Monument Preservation, Volume 47 (2018) No. 3., pp. 174–179.
  • Klaus Graf : On the topography of the imperial city of Schwäbisch Gmünd: Leinecker Hof, Himmelreich and Judenhof :
  • Richard Strobel: The art monuments of the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd. Volume 3: Secular buildings of the old town without city fortifications , Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-422-00570-6 , pp. 107–114.
  • Klaus Jürgen Herrmann : On the history of the Jews in Schwäbisch Gmünd , in: Ostalb einhorn 4, 1977, pp. 271–274.

Web links

Commons : Imhofstraße (Schwäbisch Gmünd)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b A house with many puzzles: the building at Imhofstrasse 9 is known nationwide - SWR broadcasts a report on the house on Friday . In: Gmünder Tagespost from August 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b Grant for Jewish heritage: Monument Foundation Baden-Württemberg supports the preservation of the building at Imhofstrasse 9 with 100.00 euros . In: Gmünder Tagespost from August 16, 2016.
  3. ↑ Hans-Wolfgang Bächle : Demolition or preservation ?: "Rechbergsche Scheuer" on the Deyhle site facing an uncertain future , a contribution to the city's history. In: Gmünder Tagespost from April 6, 2005.
  4. ↑ Kuno Staudenmaier: End of a building odyssey: renovation of the Rechbergsche barn under the Königsturm has begun . In: Gmünder Tagespost from August 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ Classification based on information in the article Probably the oldest house in Gmünd on remszeitung.de from March 12, 2016.

Coordinates: 48 ° 47 ′ 56.5 ″  N , 9 ° 47 ′ 58.1 ″  E