Jewish community Heilbronn

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The Jewish community in Heilbronn has a long history. A significant settlement of Jews in Heilbronn already existed in the 11th century and probably had a first synagogue at that time . The late medieval community had to endure excesses such as the Rintfleisch pogrom or the plague pogroms , but in the imperial city of Heilbronn was also under the protection of the German kings and emperors. Against the will of the emperor, the city of Heilbronn obtained a city ban in the late 15th century, so that Jews could only settle in Heilbronn again after the city passed to Württemberg and the subsequent legal equality from 1828. The community grew rapidly from the middle of the 19th century, mainly due to the industrialization of the city, and reached its highest membership level around 1895 with almost 1000 people. It built the Heilbronn synagogue in 1877 and, in the form of the Heilbronn honorary citizen Max Rosengart and the Israelite Councilor President Siegfried Gumbel, produced important personalities. The community suffered its renewed decline during the time of National Socialism : the synagogue was destroyed during the Reichspogromnacht in 1938 , around 240 people from the Heilbronn Jewish community were murdered in the course of the persecution of the Jews.

After the Second World War, only a few Jews lived in Heilbronn until 1980, before Jews began to move in, mainly from the former states of the Soviet Union (USSR). Today the community has around 130 members. The Jewish Center Heilbronn is a branch of the IRGW .

history

First mention and first synagogue

The memorial stone for Nathan the Head is the oldest stone testimony of Judaism in Heilbronn

The first Jews probably came from Spain to southwest Germany via Eastern France and Burgundy around the year 1000. Their early centers were Worms , Mainz and Speyer . It is assumed that the first Jews came to Heilbronn from there, presumably as a result of the intensified trade in the former Heilbronn royal estate and the formation of a market town. A Jewish settlement in Judengasse (today: Lohtorstraße) is documented around 1050 . The first synagogue is said to have been on the corner of Lohtorstrasse and Sülmerstrasse. In the vaulted cellar of the building at Lohtorstrasse 22, the memorial stone for Nathan the Head was found , a Hebrew inscription stone with which the grave of Nathan was closed and which is one of the oldest Jewish documents in southwest Germany apart from the Rhine communities.

Rintfleisch Pogrom 1298 and Pest Pogrom 1349

In 1298, in the so-called Rintfleisch pogrom , up to 5000 Jews were murdered by marauding supporters of the self-proclaimed King Rintfleisch , especially in Franconia . An angry mob had been moving from place to place since April 1298. In July 1298, murder of Jews took place a. a. in Mosbach, Möckmühl and Sindringen. The Heilbronn carnage on October 19, 1298 was the last in a long series. In the Nuremberg memor book 143 Jews from Heilbronn are named as victims of the riots, the Sontheim memor book puts the number of victims at 200. The Nuremberg memor book names among the victims among the victims the community leader Ascher and his wife Benvenuda, the rabbi Jochanan ben rabi Eljakim, the teacher Isaac, the puncturer Abraham with his son and the scholars Muschallam, Jehuda and Nathan. The Jewish citizens of Heilbronn at that time consisted of Sephardim (Hebrew ספרדים), who first went to France and were expelled there by Philip August in 1181. Designations such as "Benjamin the French" or French names attest to the Sephardic descent of the French Jews in Heilbronn.

Soon after the Rintfleisch pogrom there must have been Jewish citizens again in Heilbronn, because Ludwig the Bavarian pledged the Heilbronn Jews' tax liability to the city of Heilbronn in 1316 for a period of six years until an amount of 4,000 Hellern was reached. Thus, 666 Heller Jewish tax would have been due per year, while the city only had to pay a maximum of 600 Heller annually to the Emperor.

In the period from late February to mid-April 1349, during a plague epidemic in Europe, riots against Jews who were accused of having poisoned the well broke out again . The Heilbronn Chronicle says that “many Jews were slain” during this plague pogrom . In the spring of 1349 there was not only numerous "murder of Jews" in Heilbronn, but also many "Jewish fires". The term was used to describe the burning of Jews, especially Jewish women, at the "witch columns" at the second Jewish cemetery in front of the city wall of Heilbronn. The names of the victims of these riots are not known. Only one victim is documented, because on April 14, 1349 King Karl IV transferred the house of "the rich Jew Nathan zu Heilbronn opposite the house of Rottinger" to Elisabeth von Hirschhorn, the wife of Engelhard von Hirschhorn .

Second synagogue

Jews in Heilbronn prayer books

  • Page of the Prayer Book of 1399

  • Another page of a prayer book

Individual entries in prayer books:

  • Richlerin von Speyer 16 guilders

  • Richlerin von Speyer

  • Richlerin von Speyer has to pay 16 guilders

  • Samson Jude the master of learning

  • Samson Jude the master of learning has to pay 12 guilders

  • Samson Jude the master of learning has to pay 10 guilders

  • Köppelmann with his wife and daughter has to pay 18 guilders

  • David son of Köppelmann has to pay 10 guilders

  • Meyger 14 guilders

  • Vischlin has to pay 15 guilders

  • (Ma) Nasse der Juden Klöpffer (synagogue servant ) has to pay 8 guilders

The plague pogroms certainly did not wipe out the entire community, as there are documents for 1359 Jews in Heilbronn. The community had a new synagogue on Kieselmarkt , which according to different documentary information is occupied for 1357 or 1457.

Emperor Charles IV warned Heilbronn in 1361 to accept all Jews who ask for it and to grant this protection. The emperor received the taxes of the Jews in the form of the "Judenregals" and the "poll tax". The Judenregal was a kind of commercial law for the protection of Jews. This protective tax could range from 25 to 50 guilders. The poll tax, on the other hand, is made up of a percentage of assets and income. This was due when the emperor was coronated, which is why it was also called the coronation tax. In the years after this order from the emperor, more and more Jews were mentioned in Heilbronn. The Jewish citizens of this time were "wholesale merchants" and Heilbronn was a trading center for furs, slaves, wine, grain, salt etc. In 1371, Charles IV granted Heilbronn the imperial city constitution, which is considered to be equal because it is shared by the Heilbronn patriciate and the local residents Granting merchants equal shares of power in the city council.

The 14th century bet books , which list the property taxes that the citizens had to pay, testify to the prosperity of some citizens . Around 1387 there were 15 Jews among 1350 taxpayers. 0.5 percent of the assets were to be transferred. The 15 listed Jews paid a total of 279 guilders and thus around 10 percent of the total tax amount. In the prayer book of 1399, six Jews also paid 8 guilders for the Jewish cemetery.

Letter of protection from King Sigismund

Letter of protection from King Sigismund 1414
1. Article
* to the first, where one is guilty of i (h) n or is guilty for (cht) baz because (s) z one i (h) n daz after l (a) ut i (hrer brie (f ) ve, bu (e) rgen or ought to make and pay for any promises you should (l) e, as then that has come from good habit and is held, and which jud or judin a pfant heldet about a ja (h) re and thus pretended as right (c) ht that he then sold, versecize and sell (o) the same pfant (o) by (m) er than others should be own good all demands and obstacles
2. Article
* item daz man (a) ouch i (h) r love) be and i (h) r good in st (a) e (d) th do (e) rfern and (a) uf dem velde, (a) uf streets and (a) uf water should shield, and that in all streets (s) zen open s (e) in should and there (s) zs (e) y (a) ouch dor (a) uf aller fr (e) iheite (n), schirmes, fri (e) de (n) s and gnaden, es s (e) y fried or war, enjoy and partake of s (e) in should and like, des c (h) risten noble and ignoble enjoy and participate
3. Article
* item that one should also be (a) wa (e) ren (a) on water and (a) on land with no zo (e) ll or things (a) except for zo (e) ll those who have put up our pre-Far Ro (e) misch keiser and ku (e) nige (a) and waz doran come from Alder and have usually known that one should and should not do this from i (h) n ne (h) men mee (hr) in no w (ei) ys
4. Article
* item that one (a) also none of the aforementioned jews, i (h) rw (e) ibere or i (h) children should urge the t (a) oufe
5. Article
* item wan (n) s (e) y (a) also in our and the r (e) self cam (m) he belongs, there is our su (e) different opinion and want, there (s ) z man s (ie) y nor i (h) r should not distribute more or own against these our genade and fr (e) iunities, s (o) under (n) da (s) z man s (ie) y (a) ous one sta (d) t into the other to all z (e) yten (f) va (h) ren and let go o (h) n (e) all obstacles and errors
6. Article
* item daz man s (i) y (a) neither for lan (d) tgericht or landfri (e) d whether the weren or lan (d) tdays should call or load or mo (e) ge, s (o) under (n) who has to speak in sa (e) mptlich or sinfully, because (s) z the right ne (h) men and should give before the main dishes in the sta (d) t zu Heilbrun, and who it sa (g) che, that (s) zs (ei) yd (a) orou (e) about bes (ch) weret, that ouch should neither have craft nor ma (c) ht
7. Article
* item daz s (ie) y (a) also common or su (e) nderlichs or i (h) r (e) i (e) ichs w (e) iber oderere children not (ch) t compulsory s (e) in should, before Jewish masters [the s (ie) y call i (h) re rab (b) i or homeister] to (b) e (a) answers and to gesture (h) s by yeman (d) ts, he sy hohmeister, rab (b) i, jud or jewin, (ver) c (k) lay (e) or (previous) summons.
  • (With the exception of a Hohmeister or rab (b) i who has sat in Heilbronn , or so no one has the siczet in front of whom the one in the n (a) echsten r (e) ichssta (d) t by Heilbronn was, sat or lived is.
  • Whether other hohmeistere or rabi the aforementioned jews, i (h) re w (e) ibe or i (h) re kindere for themselves (before) l (a) uden, in the jewish ban (n) laid or take part in other meetings, none of that should have craft or power.
  • The afore-mentioned jews and their (h) s do not harm nor br (i) narrow in no w (ei) ys, and for this purpose should rab (b) i or hohmeister, the s (ie) y against this our ganade and fri (e) heten ba (n) nten or bel (ch) evaluating, the pene (punishment nulla pene sine lege) in this letter s (e) in fall into our and the r (e) me cam (m) er insoluble and o (h) n myndernisse to be paid (h) len
8. Article
* item welich z (e) yt that (a) also happen, that (s) z should be a jud s (ch) w (o) er, that (s) z er on Moyses book s (ch) weren mo (e ) ge with such words: "When i (h) m Got (t) help (e) b (e) y the ee gave the God (a) on the mountain Synay" and nothing else
9. Article
* item daz one (a) also none of the aforementioned jews, neither to l (e) ibe nor to well related, may dan (n) with unpromised c (h) rists and unpredicted jews who are not obviously viende .
10. Article
* item daz (a) also a i (je) resembled jud and jew, who are over three toes yes (h) r, the guldenen sacrifice pennyg in our and the rich cam (m) er all yes (hr) ( a) we should pay attention and when we should come here.
  • But whichever judge of the almusen does not need such sacrifice pennies.

The letter of protection from King Sigismund of October 15, 1414 for the Heilbronn Jews stated that as believers they had the right to have their demands fulfilled. In addition, they were granted the right to protection of property and physical integrity as well as freedom of movement and freedom of religion. The place of jurisdiction in secular or religious matters was the Heilbronn court or the Heilbronn rabbi. Finally, fees to the royal chamber in Heilbronn were regulated there.

The letter of protection initially brought an upswing in the Jewish community, which in 1415 was given a place for a new cemetery in front of the bridge gate by the Heilbronn council . In 1422, King Sigismund granted the Heilbronn Jews the same rights as the Nuremberg Jews after paying 400 Rhenish guilders. From around 1420, however, the indebtedness of the citizens of Heilbronn led to tensions among Jews. The hostility towards Jews was fueled not least by the church, which tirelessly pointed out in sermons and on the occasion of confession that dealing with Jews was sinful.

City ban from 1437

The Jews of Heilbronn were banned from the city in 1437 and were expelled from the city. They found an advocate in Reich Chamberlain, Konrad von Weinsberg , who feared that the incomes of the Reich - and thus also of its own divisions - would be reduced due to the expulsion of Jews in various imperial cities. The city of Heilbronn wrote several replies to his complaints, in which they emphasized that both in the sermon and in the confession "it was punished and warned how much one sins against God and one's neighbor if one keeps Jews and them knowingly to proliferate permit. " This , however, is greatest that had gegebüer because of the Jewish neighbors" must unwirdigen " .

Re-admission on October 8, 1439 under King Albrecht II.

Albrecht II of the House of Habsburg, Sigismund's son-in-law, was elected his successor in March 1438. Konrad von Weinsberg invited the council of Heilbronn and the Jewish citizenship to the Reichstag in Nuremberg on July 27, 1438 before the new king and his chancellor Kaspar Schlick . There Albrecht II condemned the city of Heilbronn "for devastating the royal chamber" (for tax losses) to "abandon the Jewish citizenship as before" and threatened a lawsuit for damages. The city's Jews were allowed to return on October 8, 1439 and paid 200 gulden to Konrad von Weinsberg. The homage that Heilbronn then paid to Albrecht II is the first that is literally preserved in the contract book of the city of Heilbronn. Nevertheless, after 1437 only a few names of Jews are mentioned in Heilbronn. As it becomes more and more clear in the further course, the imperial instructions regarding the tolerance of Jews were listened to less and less and they were finally completely ignored. The emperor was far away and to ensure political stability Heilbronn entered into an alliance with the nearby Electoral Palatinate in 1417, the influence of which soon became noticeable.

City ban in the late 15th century

At the beginning of 1469 the Elector Friedrich of the Palatinate expelled the Palatinate Jews and immediately informed the imperial city of Heilbronn. A little later, the city council renewed the decision to ban Heilbronn Jews from the city. In 1471 Jews were only allowed to stay in the city for a limited period of time. Reich treasurer Philipp von Weinsberg, who had taken over the office from his father Konrad and was also dependent on the differentials from the Jewish taxes, protested to Emperor Friedrich III. who in 1471 ordered the city to give the Jews their freedoms. However, the imperial order went unheeded, so that in 1473 and 1474 Friedrich der Stadt ordered the re-admission of the Jews again. In 1476, the city council decided to implement the city ban and renew it annually. The emperor remained inactive. It was not until 1487 that he again demanded the temporary admission of two Jews to the city, but also ordered in a fair privilege, also issued in 1487, that the Jews in Heilbronn should not engage in usury. In 1490 the emperor confirmed the purchase of the synagogue on Kieselmarkt and the Jewish cemetery by the city for 250 guilders, although Regensburg and Nuremberg Jews had offered more money for it. The Chamber Procurator Heinrich Martin justified the decision in favor of the city of Heilbronn with the “disgracefulness” of the Jews. Although Jews from the Cold West and Talheim asked, referring to their centuries of tax payments, not to alienate the Jewish institutions, the land on Kieselmarkt was quickly used for other purposes by the city. The Jewish school was sold on as a residential building, the Jewish cemetery was built over. In 1495, Emperor Maximilian issued an order to the city to take back the expelled Jews, but this too went unheeded. Rather, the city has made increasingly restrictive resolutions against the few Jews who remained in Heilbronn. The Jews who were formerly resident in Heilbronn settled in the surrounding towns of Neckarwestheim, Talheim and Neckarsulm and subsequently tried to return to the city, which they were not allowed to do until further notice.

Excerpts from the council minutes for the annual renewal of the city ban:

  • In a letter, the mayor and the council describe the reasons for the city ban to Konrad von Weinsberg

  • Council minutes of July 23, 1523: annual renewal of the city ban

  • Council minutes of November 14, 1527: annual renewal of the city ban

  • The repetition of the annual city ban in 1529 for the Heilbronn Israelite. Religious community

Trade during the city ban

Despite the city ban, individual Jews probably stayed in the city, even if they had to reckon with increasing harassment. In 1524, in a request for protection from Heilbronn barefooters, there was still talk of Jews in the city. Nobles from the surrounding area, including the Frauenberg (Talheim) and the Liebenstein (Kaltenwesten), petitioned the city to give their protective Jews access to the Heilbronn weekly markets . However, the city stuck to the city ban, which it renewed and confirmed at regular intervals. In 1527, on the occasion of the confirmation, it was decided to “completely abstain” from Jews. An exception were two Jewish doctors from Wimpfen and Löwenstein, who were still allowed access to their patients in Heilbronn.

In 1529, the city council forbade citizens to trade with Jews on threat of losing their citizenship. In 1530 Emperor Charles V ordered free trade and change for the Jews, whereupon a group of Jews from Neckarsulm applied to the Heilbronn council for their readmission, but the Heilbronn council stuck to its sanctions against Jews. In 1540, the Heilbronn council asked the surrounding communities to provide information on how high the bonds of the Heilbronn citizens were with Jews living in other rulers. It emerged from this that many Heilbronn residents still had trade relations with Jews who were mainly located in Württemberg ( Marbach , Bottwar , Beilstein , Weinsberg , Brackenheim , Güglingen and other places). Mostly it was about money transactions. The city then took legal action against these financial transactions and obtained a verdict from Emperor Ferdinand in 1543 that everything that the Jews had lent was forfeited and had to go to the city's treasury. The order was posted in a print run of 270 copies within a radius of 215 miles in all places with significant Jewish communities.

Jews were prohibited from trading goods and only allowed money transactions. Furthermore, no Jews were allowed to settle there, and Jewish merchants were only allowed to enter the city on payment of a protective tariff of 7 pfennigs and accompanied by a city servant. In 1620 the "Jewish body duty" was increased to 12 pfennigs.

In the last years of the Thirty Years' War , from 1645 onwards, the refugees streaming into the city of Heilbronn included some Jews who were tolerated until the Peace of Westphalia .

With the Jewish order of 1667, trade in goods with Jewish merchants was permitted to a limited extent and subject to strict conditions. Since there were many among these merchants who were on their way to the Frankfurt trade fair , and the regulations resulted in many problems with the disposition of the trade fair goods, the requirements were subsequently relaxed somewhat. At the same time, however, the city also created regulations to keep foreign Jews away from the city at all. 1712 one demanded z. B. from foreign Jews entering the city to lend them the horrific sum of 4,000 guilders as a pledge, or else to avoid the city area. In 1725 the city took in some Jews who had converted to Christianity, but soon expelled one of them back from the city after a theft he had committed.

In 1770, after there were already three markets in Heilbronn, Jews were exempted from body and bridge duties in order to liven up the markets with more traders. The settlement ban on Jews but was even after media coverage continued through the city Württemberg 1,802th

Equality Acts 1828 and 1864

In Württemberg there had been a settlement and trade ban for Jews since the time of Count Eberhard im Bart in the late 15th century. Due to the political upheavals at the beginning of the 19th century, however, many former imperial knighthood or ecclesiastical territories had fallen to Württemberg, in which the Jews expelled from Heilbronn and other cities had settled for centuries. While there were only a few hundred Jews in Württemberg around 1800, the number of Jews increased to around 7,000 as a result of the new territories, of which the Neuwuerttemberg residents mostly had more ancestral rights than the Old Württemberg Jews. The Württemberg government was forced to standardize the rights of all Jews in Württemberg. Since the Jews in neighboring France had already been granted full emancipation in 1791, a decision was made in Württemberg for legal equality with the other citizens, for which a series of preparatory regulations were made between 1806 and 1827.

The Equal Opportunities Act of April 25, 1828 allowed Jews to move freely again

With the " Law on the Public Relationships of the Israelite Beliefs " of the Royal Württemberg government of 1828, baptized and unbaptized Jewish citizens were largely equated with Christian citizens in many areas. From the original " protected Jews " citizens Württemberg were that all civil laws were subject and "to meet obligations and benefits from other subjects" all (Art. 1) had, but with exceptions, the terms freedom of trade and of active and passive voting rights were made. The law only favored Jews who were no longer engaged in the so-called “ chess trade ” and placed religious life and the training of rabbis and schools under state supervision.

In 1830 the first new Jewish citizen, a cloth merchant named Isidor Veit from Sontheim (see Sontheim Jewish Community ), moved back to the city of Heilbronn and was granted citizenship in 1831. In 1849, Moritz Kallmann became the first Jewish citizen to join the local council.

In the first phase of the cultural adaptation of the country's ecclesiastical presence, a law of 1828 was passed, which provided for the office of church governor as the guardian of the Israelite community. In a second phase, on October 27, 1831, a royal Israelite higher church authority in Württemberg was founded on the basis of a royal decree , made up of the board and government commissioner Johann Balthasar von Steinhardt, the rabbi Joseph Maier and, as vicar, the Heilbronn rabbi Ludwig Kahn, the secretary Carl Weil, as head of the church and secular members together. The Israelite charity in Heilbronn was founded in 1857 by Liebmann Strauss. From this charity, the Jewish community of Heilbronn emerged in a third phase of assimilation in 1861. In 1862 the Jewish community comprised 137 people, and in 1864 there were 369 members.

In 1864, with a new emancipation law, a more far-reaching legal equality came: “The Israelites native to the kingdom are subject to the same laws in all civil relationships, which are authoritative for the other citizens; they enjoy the same rights and have the same duties and services to perform ”. However, it was not until 1912 that the state's supervision of “church” life was abolished. In 1868 the still existing Jewish cemetery was opened below the Wartberg.

  • In 1831 Isidor Veit received the citizenship according to the “Law in subject of the public. Conditions of the Israelite co-religionists ”from 1828

  • Moritz Kallmann joins the Heilbronn municipal council

  • Emancipation Act of August 13, 1864

  • Emancipation Act of August 13, 1864

Third synagogue in Heilbronn from 1877

Heilbronn Synagogue, photo from 1900

From around 1858 on, the Heilbronn Jewish community grew rapidly, as numerous Jews moved from the surrounding villages to the city, where the onset of industrialization offered many opportunities to earn a living. As early as 1867 the district rabbinate was moved from Lehrensteinsfeld to Heilbronn. By 1871 the Jewish community had about 610 members. The then only synagogue in the city had been located in the central building of the Deutschhof since 1856 by what was then the jury court room, but where there was limited space. The community acquired a plot of land on the avenue where the Heilbronn synagogue was inaugurated in 1877. The eclectic style building was a cruciform basilica with a high central nave, a transept and lower aisles. The transept was covered by a flat hipped roof and crowned by four smaller side domes. The central dome had twelve arched windows and was covered on the outside with patinated, green shimmering copper.

  • Synagogue picture 1877

  • Synagogue building files 1879

  • The Heilbronn synagogue of the central synagogue community

Instrumental music and funeral

The Israelite parish assembly decided with sixty to four votes in favor of installing an organ in the Heilbronn synagogue. Instrumental music is not provided for in Orthodox liturgy. This led to heated controversy. Another cultural adaptation of the present was cremation - made possible in Heilbronn by the crematorium created in 1905 by Emil Beutinger on the main cemetery in Heilbronn - which caused a split in the community. The cremation was considered incompatible with the tradition of the Jewish burial as well as with Maimonides (and his 13th beliefs ) and Jecheskiel (prophecy chap. 37 on the resurrection of the bones on the last day) as incompatible, since Judaism imposed a strict separation of body and Soul does not know. Hence, the idea of ​​being raised to new life encompasses the whole person . But if the whole person were to be cremated, there would be no resurrection.

Under the leadership of the Heilbronn citizens of Jewish faith, David Reis and Emanuel Kaufmann, a split developed from the central synagogue community of Heilbronn, which is considered to be assimilated. This new community was called Adass Jeschurun . The following words of Tenach were authoritative for that Jewish community: You shall be a people of priests for me! In 1911 the community opened its own prayer room. In 1933 the community had around 60 members.

Rabbinate and rabbi

From 1864 to 1889, Moses Engelbert (born June 13, 1830 in Budenberg near Kassel; † January 17, 1891 in Heilbronn) was the head of the liturgy as the rabbi of the central synagogue community in Heilbronn. He was the local rabbi until the Lehrensteinsfeld district rabbinate was dissolved or moved to Heilbronn (see Jewish community in Lehrensteinsfeld ). He was followed from 1889 to 1892 by Rabbi Bertold Einstein (born December 31, 1862 in Ulm; † June 4, 1935). As rabbinate administrator, it was Einstein who gave the funeral oration at the memorial service in the Heilbronn synagogue after the death of King Karl von Württemberg . This celebration took place on October 11, 1891.

Ludwig Kahn (born June 17, 1845 in Baisingen; † October 9, 1914) worked in Heilbronn from 1892 to 1914. Kahn, who came to Heilbronn on April 19, 1892, soon secured the reputation of a highly educated man and a caring clergyman. After the establishment of the Israelite Higher Church Authority, he was attached to the first theological member of the council for support. During the mobilization in World War I, Rabbi Kahn asked in the synagogue for God's protection and assistance for Germany. Ludwig Kahn played a notable role in the outbreak of war in 1914, when the higher church authorities in Stuttgart demanded an even procedure for the swearing-in of Christian and Jewish soldiers. The soldiers of all denominations had lined up for this solemn act in the barracks yard of Heilbronn, and the clergy of the three denominations stood in front of the field altar. Rabbi Kahn was also responsible for the Israelite pastoral care in the royal sanatorium and nursing home in Weinsberg (Heilbronn district, Württemberg).

Rabbi Kahn was followed by Max Beermann (born April 5, 1873 in Berlin; † 1935 in Heilbronn) from 1914 to 1935. He taught in many courses at the Volkshochschule Heilbronn and was an integral part of the commune's cultural life. He was also a member of the Israelite Lodge (Heilbronn) and gave many lectures there. On June 1, 1915, he had the "opportunity under medical guidance ... to get to know the individual patients and their personal details". Since June 3, 1914, services have been held there and Shabbat celebrated at least once a month.

cantor

Moritz Dreifus was employed as one of the first cantors in 1885, (* 23 August 1845 in Richen; † 28 December 1924 in Heilbronn) who worked as a teacher and cantor .

Isy Krämer (born August 9, 1877 in Mönchsrot; † April 16, 1963 in Brooklyn) has been a cantor since 1903. His wife was Julie, née Würzburger, who was born on April 12, 1888 in Heilbronn. Furthermore, Krämer worked as a music critic in Heilbronn's newspapers. His work for the Heilbronner Zeitung should be mentioned here when the newspaper was still being published by Carl Wulle. Furthermore, from 1910 he worked for the Neckar newspaper under the editors-in-chief Ernst Jäckh and Theodor Heuss . The future Federal President Heuss and Krämer were friends.

Church council

The church council of the Israelite community consisted of a cantor, rabbi and some representatives of the community. These goods:

  • Moritz Ullmann (* May 7, 1820 in Affaltrach; † July 18, 1880 in Heilbronn). Ullmann married Lina Kohn.
  • Nathan Wachs (born January 3, 1839 in Stein aK, † January 4, 1905 in Heilbronn).
  • Liebmann Strauss (born August 8, 1833 in Obergimpern; † August 12, 1907 in Heilbronn).
  • Max Kirchheimer (born January 11, 1839 in Berwangen, † October 14, 1901 in Stuttgart).
  • Mayer Stein (born September 20, 1890 in Obergimpern, † September 13, 1941 in Heilbronn). His wife Frieda Wollenberger (born November 11, 1869 in Siegelsbach, † March 23, 1942 in Theresienstadt / Maly Trostinec) was murdered in the Maly Trostinec concentration camp .

Club life

The Heilbronn Jews were not only united in the Jewish community, but also in various associations. In addition to the Israelite Charity Association founded on April 15, 1857 , from which the Jewish community of Heilbronn emerged in 1861 and celebrated its 50th anniversary on November 16, 1907, there were mainly cultural associations such as the two Alliance associations founded in 1877, located in the Württemberger Hof met, and accord , who held his meetings in the sun and harmony , also the association for Jewish history founded in 1899 with Hermann Wollenberger as chairman, the synagogue choir, also founded in 1899, and later the association Geselligkeit Klub founded in 1928 with Lothar Schwarzenberger as chairman Chairman.

In 1910 the 480th daughter lodge or 39th German lodge of the B'nai B'rith (Hebrew: בני ברית, German: "Sons of the Federation"), a Jewish welfare organization that had existed since 1843, was founded in Heilbronn. The lodge was soon named Herder lodge after Johann Gottfried Herder and became the spiritual center of the Jewish community in Heilbronn. The founding chairman was Siegfried Gumbel , he was followed from 1915 to 1937 by Gottfried Gumbel, Max Beermann, Fritz Kirchheimer and Hermann Kern with the computers Karl Siegler and Wilhelm Rosenthal. The lodge's prominent speakers include: Julius Bab , Kurt Pinthus , Nahum Goldmann and Chief Rabbi Leo Baeck . The lodge was closed on April 16, 1937.

End of growth

A petition submitted to Reich Chancellor Bismarck in 1880 for “restricting the influence of the Jews” was not approved by the Heilbronn municipal council. In general, the Jewish residents played a significant role in Heilbronn's economic boom in the 19th century: Jewish liqueur, metal, shoe and cigar companies were founded.

In 1885 the Jewish community in Heilbronn had reached its largest number of members with almost 1,000 members. After that, the number of members decreased again slightly and then remained stable until 1925 with around 900 members. The reasons for the end of growth are that most of the young members of the Jewish rural communities had moved to the cities and there were hardly any stragglers. At the same time, there were far fewer large families in urban conditions around 1900 than there had been in rural communities in the 19th century. In addition, in the last years of the 19th century the cities, which were much more industrialized than Heilbronn, were more attractive destinations for emigration.

Around 1900 two Jews from Heilbronn were members of the municipal council:

  • 1895–1907: Jakob Schloß (born November 14, 1831 in Laudenbach; † February 22, 1910 in Heilbronn ), member of the municipal council and temporarily deputy to the Lord Mayor Paul Hegelmaier . Jakob Schloß was a member of the citizens' committee of the city of Heilbronn from 1885 to 1895, where he stayed for nine years. As a representative of this same body, he hands over the memorandum of the citizens' committee to the Dutch government appointed by the government, in which the removal of Mayor Hegelmaiers was requested. On August 5, 1896, he was the city's representative when the Karlstor stop went into operation. On November 1, 1897, when the trade court was introduced, he was elected deputy to chairman Hegelmaier.
  • 1890–1928: Max Rosengart (born June 18, 1855 in Hundersingen , Münsingen ; † May 19, 1943 in Stockholm), member of the municipal council and temporarily shared the business of Mayor Hegelmaier with Georg Härle and Gustav Kiess. Rosengart was made an honorary citizen of Heilbronn in 1930. The National Socialists withdrew his award in 1933. Rosengart emigrated to Sweden in 1939.

Gumbel banking family

The Jewish Gumbel brothers had been running a banking business in Heilbronn since 1860. This business split in 1880 into the Gumbel-Kiefe bank and exchange business, from which the Heilbronn branch of the bank for trade and industry emerged in 1918, and the Gumbel bank and exchange business with the owner Abraham Gumbel , from 1909 the Heilbronner Bankverein was. The Gumbel family bankers financed numerous industrial projects. The directors of the Jewish faith of the Heilbronner Bankverein were Abraham Gumbel (1909), Otto Igersheimer (1930), Sigmund Gumbel (1933).

  • Abraham Gumbel (born December 21, 1852 in Stein a. K .; † December 25, 1930 in Heilbronn ), was the first chairman and founder of the association.
  • Otto Igersheimer (born March 14, 1879 in Heilbronn ; † July 13, 1942 in Auschwitz ), was the authorized signatory in 1909 and later successor to Abraham Gumbel as director of the Heilbronner Bankverein. On a Monday, when Igersheimer went back to his office in the Bankverein, 30 SS and SA men each entered the Heilbronner Bankverein, Kaiserstraße 34, and his apartment by force. The crowd was incited against Igersheimer. About 300 people then gathered in front of the Heilbronner Bankverein and in choruses demanded the extradition of the well-known bank director: (beginning of the quote) .. “Jud Igersheimer out! “ ... [] After David Vollweiler was deported, he took on the task of taking over the counseling center for welfare and support for the Jewish community in Heilbronn . He was ordered by the NSDAP to act as community caretaker for the work and the control of the removal. He was deported to Obersdorf on May 20, 1942 and from there to Auschwitz . His house at Karlstrasse 43 was “Aryanized” for 26,000 RM .
  • Sigmund Gumbel, (* 1867 in Heilbronn, † 1942 in London ), the youngest brother of Abraham Gumbel, announced on April 25, 1933 that he was leaving the supervisory board of the Heilbronner Bankverein.

Reorganization after the First World War

The church organization of the Jewish communities had to be reorganized after the collapse of the monarchy after the First World War. In 1920 a constitutional regional church assembly was convened, with the Heilbronn rabbinate being represented by Alex Amberg and Siegfried Gumbel. Gumbel in particular is said to have had a major influence on the formulation of the constitution. On March 18, 1924, the church constitution was enacted, according to which the Israelite Religious Community of Württemberg was granted the status of a corporation under public law in accordance with the Reich constitution and state law. The Israelite religious community was now allowed to be independent as a legal person, and it was able to set up an Israelite national assembly as the legislature and an Israelite senior council as the executive.

The following members of the Israelite community in Heilbronn were active in the Israelite Council.

  • Isidor Flegenheimer (born March 24, 1858 in Odenheim, † July 12, 1940 in Heilbronn). In 1912 Felgenheimer was head of the church. Since January 20, 1913 member of the Israelite Higher Church Authority. From 1924 Oberrat until 1935. In 1931 a foundation was set up that bore his name and had the task of promoting the training of Israelite religious teachers. In 1936, the foundation was expanded to include escape and emigration assistance.
  • Manfred Scheuer (born August 8, 1893 in Heilbronn). Lawyer and Zionist and emigrated to Palestine with his wife and three children in 1938.
  • Siegfried Gumbel (born September 22, 1874 in Heilbronn ; † January 27, 1942 in Dachau concentration camp ).

On May 25, 1927, the ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the synagogue was celebrated, about which the Heilbronn Oskar Mayer published a commemorative publication on the history of the Jews in Heilbronn. There was a festive service in the synagogue, later a festive evening in the Harmony. Siegfried Gumbel's disenchantment can be felt in the celebratory speech . The Heilbronn merchant Hermann Wolf showed six pictures in a festival that symbolized the past, present and future of the Israelite religious community Heilbronn.

On December 23, 1931, the ceremony for the 100th anniversary of the Israelite Higher Church Authority was celebrated in the synagogue, with the senior councilor Siegfried Gumbel giving a speech and informing the community about the establishment of an anniversary foundation, which was intended for education and charity.

Growing anti-Semitism

The Heilbronn local group of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith (CV) was founded in Heilbronn in 1920. The Central Association had a total of 31 regional associations with around 500 local groups. The Heilbronn local group represented the majority of the assimilated bourgeois-liberal Jews in Heilbronn and was the most important organization among the numerous Jewish clubs and associations in Heilbronn that were formed in response to the increasing anti-Semitism in the German Empire . The first chairman was Siegfried Gumbel , followed by Max Rosengart .

On April 17, 1924, the Heilbronn local group held an educational evening on anti-Semitism. This had become necessary after previous attacks by the NSDAP. The Heilbronner "Abendzeitung" writes: "The evening showed that the cultural disgrace of anti-Semitism has no place in the broad bourgeoisie of Heilbronn." On May 13, 1931, the Heilbronn local group of the CV invites you to hold a debate on Jewish issues that Rosengart was run. Gumbel raised his Jewish faith out and said that "if the Jews were the outspoken materialists, when they hinstellt, they had long since given up their belief." .

The CV Heilbronn local group published the manuals:

ANTI ANTI- (Semitism) and
Facts on the Jewish question

The Heilbronn local branch of the Association for Defense against Anti-Semitism was founded on October 30, 1928 and lasted until 1933. The defense association was the umbrella organization for numerous regional associations with many local groups.

The mood in Heilbronn was generally not very anti-Semitic due to the Heilbronn social structure (a large part of the population came from the working class). From 1932 until his suspension in 1933, Siegfried Gumbel (* 1874; † January 27, 1942 in Dachau concentration camp ) was a member of the local council.

Third Reich and Shoah

The congregation reacted in an armed manner to the seizure of power by the National Socialists, but there was no special statement in the communal newspaper about the seizure of power on January 30, 1933. It was only after the Nuremberg Laws were passed in 1935 that the first criticism was found there. Internally, the community suffered from the beginning as it was exposed to the repression that soon began.

In front of the Landauer department store on Kaiserstraße and in front of other Jewish shops, the National Socialists called for a boycott of Jews on April 1, 1933 . On April 25, there was a bomb attack on the department store, on the same day there was an anti-Semitic rally in front of the Heilbronn bank association, where a crowd demanded the extradition of the Jewish bank association director Otto Igersheimer . On April 29, 1933, another bomb exploded in the weaving department store for the bridge, which was also run by Jewish owners . In May and June 1933 there were two suicides within the Jewish community.

Siegfried Gumbel

The community began to build a “Jewish world” with its own schools, its own senior citizens' home and hospital. The Israelite religious community offered lessons in the “Adlerkeller” restaurant from June 6, 1934, because Jewish children were banned from school. Three Jewish women were later convicted of employing a non-Jewish housemaid. They had violated the law for the protection of German blood . Associations were founded to provide for the Jews without income.

In 1935, Rabbi Harry Heimann (born April 1, 1910), born in Bromberg, came to Heilbronn. Like his predecessor, he was also responsible for pastoral care in the Weinsberg sanatorium, where Israelite pastoral care became increasingly necessary before those affected were deported to Grafeneck or to the Hadamar institution and murdered as part of Action T4 . Rabbi Heimann was able to emigrate to America in 1938.

The former councilor Siegfried Gumbel, who was very committed to the Jewish communities in Heilbronn and at the state level, moved to Stuttgart in 1936, where he was Otto Hirsch's representative as chairman of the Reich Representation of the Jews. Already at that time Gumbel recognized that the position of the Jews was lost and encouraged emigration. He was also elected President of the Upper Council of the Israeli Religious Community of Württemberg in 1936. In this function he had to dissolve the Jewish communities from the summer of 1939 before he was arrested in 1941 and murdered in Dachau the following year.

November pogroms 1938

In the November pogrom of November 10, 1938, the Jewish community, which still comprised around 350 people, had to watch their splendid Heilbronn synagogue on the avenue go up in flames the morning after the nationwide pogrom night and the prayer room of the Israelite religious community Adass Yeschurun ​​was devastated. In January 1940 the synagogue was demolished. The synagogue stones were used for the fruit cellar of the youth art school. Shops and homes of Jews were looted and their belongings burned. Leading community members fled or were deported to Dachau.

On the morning of the November pogrom of 1938 at 6.30 a.m., when Cantor Isy Krämer hurried to his synagogue work as usual, he could only see the burning building and had to go to the Gestapo. Thanks to a police director "W.", Krämer was able to prevent the deportation of older members of the Israelite community in particular. Kramer was later head of the Israelite church community and helped with the emigration. In 1939 he emigrated to America himself and died in Brooklyn in 1963.

The last cantor in Heilbronn was Karl Kahn (born December 26, 1890 in Hollenbach, † October 6, 1944 in Auschwitz). Karl Kahn married Rita Meyer (born April 23, 1906 in Heilbronn; † October 6, 1944 in Auschwitz). Kahn and his wife came to Theresienstadt on August 22, 1942, and were murdered in Auschwitz on October 6, 1944.

Deportation of the Heilbronn Jews

There were various deportations in Heilbronn , whereby 234 Jewish citizens from Heilbronn and Sontheim lost their lives in the extermination and concentration camps:

Life of the jew. Heilbronn parish after the collapse of the actual parish

By 1940 around 600 Jews had managed to emigrate or flee abroad. 240 people from the Jewish cultural area fell victim to National Socialism in Heilbronn.

Discrimination against Jews using the example of the Jewish Heilbronn economy

Of the 150 Jewish businesses before the seizure of power, many remained until March 1, 1939; H. they were still profitable or not yet "Aryanized". The following companies were "aryanized" in Heilbronn :

  • Landauer brothers: department store ,
  • Dreyfuß and sons: metal and scrap trade
  • Gumbel and Co .: silver goods factory
  • Landauer & Macholl : Hammer distillery
  • Kahn: cigar factory
  • Ludwig Maier and Co .: apron factory
  • Madaform: soap factory
  • Meth and Co .: Woolworth
  • Oppenheimer and Co .: Darmfabrik
  • Castle: Haberdashery
  • Heinrich Schwarzenberger: cleaning wool factory
  • Steigerwald AG: Wine distillery and liqueur factory
  • Heinrich Stobetzki: cigars
  • Wolko shoe factory
  • Gummersheimer: clothing store
  • Flesch fashion house
  • Thalheimer: scrap and metal wholesaler
  • Marx & Co: Gut Wholesale
  • Almond leaves: shoe store
  • Victor: Heilbronn leather factory
  • Wollenberger: Spirits
  • Würzburger: Adler Brewery

Monuments

Various monuments in Heilbronn remember the fate of the Jewish community: On November 9, 1966, a memorial plaque for the Jewish victims of National Socialism was unveiled in the avenue, followed in 1996 by the dome memorial, which is intended to commemorate the dome of the synagogue ruins. In addition, various stumbling blocks were laid.

IRGW branch Heilbronn

Until 1980, the Jewish community in Heilbronn consisted of only six families who belonged to the Israelite religious community of Württemberg based in Stuttgart. The Israelite Religious Community Heilbronn was founded in 2004 as a branch of the IRGW , the board of directors is the IRGW Stuttgart. The church is a unified church . Your synagogue is in the Heilbronn Jewish Center . The community is looked after by various rabbis. Since 2012, the liberal rabbi Yuriy Kadnykov from Hanover has been holding services according to the liberal rite in the Heilbronn synagogue, with women participating in the service on an equal footing. The community has 130 members (as of 2012), 98% of whom come from the former USSR .

literature

  • R. Wiener: On the history of the Jews in Heilbronn. In: Achawa. Club book. Published by the association to support needy Israelite teachers, teacher widows and orphans in Germany. Leipzig 1867, pp. 56-77.
  • Johann Georg Dürr: The Jews of Heilbronn in the Thirty Years' War In: Württembergische Vierteljahrshefte für Landesgeschichte, Volume 2, 1879, pp. 76–79.
  • Description of the Oberamt Heilbronn. First part. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1901
  • Oskar Mayer: The history of the Jews in Heilbronn, commemorative publication for the 50th anniversary of the synagogue in Heilbronn. Heilbronn 1927
  • Hans Franke : History and Fate of the Jews in Heilbronn. From the Middle Ages to the time of the National Socialist persecution (1050–1945). Heilbronn City Archives, Heilbronn 1963, ISBN 3-928990-04-7 .
  • Wolfram Angerbauer , Hans Georg Frank: Jewish communities in the district and city of Heilbronn (= series of publications of the district of Heilbronn. Volume 1). 1986.
  • Edith Walz: History of the Jews in Heilbronn. Supplement to the exhibition of the Protestant parish Heilbronn in the choir of Kilian's Church - June 1987. Heilbronn 1987
  • Friedrich Battenberg: Heilbronn and the king's servants. On the protection of Jews and the use of Jews in the city, region and empire (= sources and research on the history of the city of Heilbronn. Volume 1: Region and Reich. ) Heilbronn City Archives, 1992.
  • Community newspaper August / September 2008 edition (Ed .: Israelitische Religionsgemeinschaft Württemberg), Tamus / Aw / Elul / Tischri 5768/5769, No. 08/09, August / September 2008.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Historical Commission for the History of the Jews in Germany (ed.): Das Martyrologium des Nürnberger Memorbuches (= sources on the history of the Jews in Germany. III), Berlin 1898, pp. 212–214.
  2. ↑ Mayer 1927, p. 23.
  3. ↑ The Germanica Judaica suspected given the high amount of 4000 pounds Haller a clerical error and takes as correct sum to 400 pounds Haller.
  4. ^ A b c Hans Franke : History and fate of the Jews in Heilbronn. From the Middle Ages to the time of the National Socialist persecution (1050–1945). Heilbronn City Archives, Heilbronn 1963, ISBN 3-928990-04-7 .
  5. ↑ Knupfer, p. 89, No. 199: "King ... gives ... house of the rich Jew Nathan zu Heilbronn ..."
  6. ↑ Gerhard Hess: Around 1400 there were millionaires in Heilbronn In: Neckar-Echo. March 23, 1956.
  7. ↑ Copy in Heilbronner Urkundenbuch Vol. 1, Heilbronn 1904.
  8. ^ Document book of the city of Heilbronn in Württemberg. Sources published by Württemberg. Commission for regional history, Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1904. Volume 1, page 210, No. 451
  9. ↑ Wolfram Angerbauer: Affaltrach Synagogue - Museum of the history of the Jews in the district and city of Heilbronn. Catalog. Heilbronn 1989. ISBN 3-9801562-2-2 , page 36
  10. ↑ Kneuper "Heilbronner Urkundenbuch" No. 581 page 291 (line 33 ff.) "Dispute between the city of Heilbronn and the Reich treasurer Konrad von Weinsberg over expulsion of the Jews - January 14, 1438 to October 8, 1439"
  11. ↑ statist. State Office BOberamtHN page 63
  12. ↑ Wiener 1867, p. 65.
  13. ↑ Wiener 1867, pp. 65/66.
  14. ↑ Document from Speyer dated February 16, 1487. Cf. M. Wiener: Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland during the Middle Ages, Hanover 1862, p. 98, no. 120.
  15. ^ Document from Linz of September 24, 1490, on the same day also confirmation of the sale of the Jewish school in the imperial city of Esslingen . Cf. M. Wiener: Regesten on the history of Jews in Germany during the Middle Ages, Hanover 1862, p. 99, no. 131.
  16. ↑ Wiener 1867, p. 67.
  17. ↑ Source: Angerbauer / Frank: Jewish communities in the district and city of Heilbronn, p. 96.
  18. ↑ Wiener 1867, pp. 72/73.
  19. ↑ Walz 1987, p. 6.
  20. ↑ Reis, Arthur: The iron bridge. Heilbronn, 1987
  21. ↑ Christhard Schrenk , Hubert Weckbach , Susanne Schlösser: From Helibrunna to Heilbronn. A city history (=  publications of the archive of the city of Heilbronn . Volume 36 ). Theiss, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8062-1333-X , p. 158 .
  22. ↑ Reis: The Iron Bridge , page 18.
  23. ^ Commemorative speech at the funeral service for King Karl von Württemberg in the Heilbronn synagogue on October 11, 1891, given by rabbinate administrator Dr. Einstein. Heilbronn J. Stern. Bookstore 1891.
  24. ^ Franke: History of the Jews in HN.
  25. ↑ alemannia-judaica.de
  26. ↑ alemannia-judaica.de
  27. ^ Swabia and Franconia: Israelitische Seelsorge, February 1984, number 2, p. III.
  28. ↑ Schwaben and Franken, February 1984, number 2, p. III.
  29. ^ The first chairman was Liebmann Strauss. From 1915 to 1938 there was the following management team: Louis Reis, Karl Kern, Albert Scheuer and Isy Krämer.
  30. ↑ That was the 20th century, page 11
  31. ↑ The chairmen were Ludwig Bär, L.Herz, Nathan Wachs, M. Karlsruher and Maier Stein. From 1915 to 1928 there were the following chairmen: Maier Stein and Eugen Kirchheimer.
  32. ↑ The chairmen were: J. Schlüchterer, Mainzer, Louis Reis and Adolph Adler. Calculators were L. Reis, Sigwart Henle. From 1901 to 1914 there were the following chairmen: J. Schlüchterer, Mainzer, S. Stein, Hermann Nathan, A. Oppenheimer, Louis Reis and Adolph Adler. From 1915 to 1934 there were the following chairmen: Adolph Adler, Fritz Kirchheimer, Hugo Kern, Willy Rostenthal jun. and Max Reis.
  33. ↑ With J. Erlanger, H. Freitag, Maier Stein, M. Stein and Elsa Rypinski as chairmen.
  34. ↑ Franke History of the Jews, page 100
  35. ↑ Franke, p. 97
  36. ↑ Franke p. 101
  37. ↑ see above on page 100
  38. ↑ Why the Synagogues Burned, p. 21
  39. ↑ That was the 20th century in Heilbronn, page 28
  40. ↑ Christhard Schrenk: Heilbronn around 1933. A city comes under the swastika . In: heilbronnica 5. Contributions to town and regional history , Heilbronn town archive, Heilbronn 2013, pp. 276/277.
  41. ↑ Franke 1963, p. 340.
  42. ↑ In an interview with our editorial team member Frank Lutz (flu): I am not used to women in the Torah . Interview: Avital Toren from the Israelite Religious Community Heilbronn on equality and circumcision. In: Heilbronn voice . No. 182 , August 8, 2012, p. 29 .

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