Quedlinburg Jewish Community
The Jewish community of Quedlinburg existed from 11/12. Century up to its destruction during the time of National Socialism .
middle Ages
Beginnings of Jewish Life
Already in the 11th / 12th In the 17th century, Jewish merchants are said to have settled in Quedlinburg. They have been documented since the early 13th century. They functioned primarily as independent lenders to the Quedlinburg abbess and other local rulers. The city of Quedlinburg therefore tried several times to expel the Jews, whereas the abbess repeatedly placed them under her special protection. As a compromise, both sides agreed to limit the Jewish population to twelve pairs of so-called protective Jews .
Expulsion 1514
In 1514 all Jews had to be ordered by the Saxon Elector Friedrich III. Leave Quedlinburg. During the 17th and 18th centuries all attempts at resettlement were thwarted.
Modern times
Revival of the Jewish community
Only after the dissolution of the women's monastery in 1802 did Jews resettle in Quedlinburg. However , Quedlinburg lagged far behind the importance of the Jewish community in Halberstadt . The Hell 5 building served as the parish hall . In 1903 a usage ban was issued due to construction defects. The congregation then used the Franciscan building for a time , and then the meeting room of the Hagenschen's Freihaus . From 1922, the services took place at times on the property at Blasiistraße 13 , on Carl-Ritter-Straße. From 1935 to 1937 the prayer room of the congregation was in the house at Goldstrasse 25 .
The medieval burial place of the Quedlinburg Jews was in the area of the city wall near the vineyard. The area at the city tower there, the Lindenbeinturm , is named in historical maps according to Jodenkewer . This cemetery was moved to the Zwergkuhle in the 19th century. This modern Jewish cemetery in Quedlinburg was documented by the state monument conservator during the time of National Socialism. The tombstones were repeatedly knocked over at this time, but the cemetery as a whole was not destroyed during this time. Rather, the surviving graves were destroyed despite protests from the Jewish community in Magdeburg in 1975/1976 and the grave slabs were taken to the Quedlinburg garbage dump on Halberstädter Strasse. Today the area is designed as a green area and supplemented with a memorial stone.
Most of the Quedlinburg Jews ran small and medium-sized businesses as merchants or traders. David Sachs had great entrepreneurial success with his seed breeding company founded in 1878, which achieved international significance.
Since 1933
From 1933 to 1945 fewer than 100 “non-Aryans” lived in Quedlinburg. Of these, at least 13 were violently killed, 14 managed to emigrate and 34 predominantly “half-Jews” survived and died of natural causes. The other fates are unknown.
After the end of World War II , the Jewish community was not revived. Since May 26, 2017, there have been two stumbling blocks at Steinweg 81 , which are reminiscent of the Jewish couple Sommerfeld, who ran a textile shop in Quedlinburg until 1938.
Literature (selection)
- Eberhard Brecht , Manfred Kummer: The Jews in Quedlinburg. History, end and traces of an extradited minority , ed. v. Association for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Halberstadt and Surroundings eV, Volume 7, Halberstadt 1996.
- Eberhard Brecht: Destroyed Lifeworlds: Jews in Quedlinburg 1933-1945 , Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2019. ISBN 978-3-96311-175-4
- Reinhard Bein: Eternal House: Jewish Cemeteries in City and Country Braunschweig , Braunschweig 2004, p. 125f.
Web links
- Lexicon of Jewish communities. Retrieved April 12, 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Hartmut Schauer, Quedlinburg, half-timbered town, world cultural heritage , Verlag Bauwesen Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-345-00676-6 , page 36
Coordinates: 51 ° 47 ′ 21.2 " N , 11 ° 7 ′ 58.2" E