Jewish gravestones in Ulm

Gravestone of the Mina, in the entrance area of the Ulm Minster

The New Gate shortly before its demolition in 1860. It was built on the site of the first Jewish cemetery.

The Jewish gravestones in Ulm were removed from medieval Jewish cemeteries in the imperial city of Ulm in order to be used as stones for the construction of the Ulm Minster as well as for housing.

Origin of the tombstones

While Christian cemeteries were traditionally laid out around the churches, that is, they were centrally located in the city, the Jewish religious law provided for burials outside the localities. The first Jewish cemetery was in Ulm in front of the city wall at the intersection of today's Kelter-, Wengen- and Sterngasse. First mentioned in 1281, it was used until the 14th century. Because of the planned expansion of the fortifications, the Jewish community had to give up its cemetery. She was in a weak negotiating position with this city expansion and could not prevent the new city gate from being built directly in her cemetery. But even an inner-city location of the cemetery would not have been a solution after the Halacha . So, probably after the plague pogrom in 1349, a new cemetery was established a few hundred meters away from the previous burial site outside the city. This was in the area of the main post office. The mayor of Ulm, Ulrich Rot and Walter Bitterlin, lent the new cemetery grounds to the Jewish community in 1356 as an interest loan, and the Jews of Ulm wrote a letter to the contrary.

In 1499 Maximilian I ordered that the Jews be expelled from Ulm and that their property would be nationalized. The tombstones were now considered abandoned property. The cemetery was cleared and the stones were used as spoilers . During construction work in the area of this cemetery, bones were found several times; In 1987 archaeologists recovered 22 skeletons, which were later buried in the Jewish cemetery on Stuttgarter Straße. All graves were oriented west-east, so that the head of the buried was always in the west. The wooden coffins showed themselves as discoloration of the floor. Apart from coffin nails, there were no other finds.

Discovery, documentation, loss

As early as the 15th century, a stone was discovered in Ulm “in the Franciscan cemetery, deep underground”, “written on with Hebrew characters”. The chronicler Felix Fabri reported that a Jew was asked to help read the text. He “stated that that stone was a Jewish gravestone and that the inscription was carved before Christ's death.” After the context of the Jewish cemetery was lost, that is, the stones had been reduced to their usefulness as building material, the Hebrew inscription was now used again their identification as Jewish gravestones. The claim that the stone comes from antiquity should probably emphasize the old age of the Jewish community in Ulm and relieve them of the charge of being guilty of the events in Jerusalem and of the death of Christ.

Three tombstones were discovered in the 17th century. At the end of the 18th century there were nine. At the beginning of the 20th century, the inscriptions of 24 such gravestones were known, some of which were lost. Markus Brann presented the most detailed treatment of the inscriptions in 1917. During the Nazi dictatorship , the (modern) old Jewish cemetery was also destroyed, on the wall of which some of the medieval tombstones stood.

Names and dates on the tombstones

Not all grave inscriptions are completely legible. (The title "Rabbi", which all male deceased men bear, has the more general meaning of "Lord".) Markus Brann offers the following overview of the gravestones known to him in chronological order:


Deceased	father	Year of death	Inscription bearer	Find situation	Safekeeping 1917	particularities
Mrs. Bellet, the old woman	Rabbi Solomon HaLevi	1243	Sandstone, 130 cm high, 50 cm wide.	Found in 1626 on the upper Münsterplatz (Schäfflenmarktplatz). Veesenmeyer described the stone as lost in 1797, and in 1829 it reappeared while digging up the sidewalk on the south side of the minster.	In the minster.
Mrs. Zeruja	Rabbi Kalonymos	1274		Found in 1827 when the Heerdbrucker Gate was demolished.	Lost.	Of the five stones that became known when the gate was demolished, three were too weathered to be legible.
Mrs. Ottilie		1298	Yellow limestone (Jura), 150 cm high, 55 cm wide.		Two fragments, in the minster.	Since the patronymic is missing, Brann assumed that it could be a proselytist .
Mrs. Miriam	Rabbi Solomon	1305	Sandstone, 150 cm high, 75 cm wide.	Found in 1607 in the garden of the armory at the Gänsetor.	In the minster since 1815, wall of the north aisle.	( Photo )
Rabbi Moses	Rabbi Natan	1306		Found in 1827 when the Heerdbrucker Gate was demolished.	Lost.
Rabbi Moses	Rabbi Abraham	1306		This stone was found behind the paneling of the police station in the street servant's hut.	Lost
Mrs. Hanna	Rabbi Eliakim	1331			Lost.
Rabbi Chaim	Rabbi Rechabja haKohen	1335		Found in the churchyard wall of the stately Ulm city of Langenau .
Rabbi Moses	Rabbi Eleazar	1341	Sandstone, 200 cm high, 100 cm wide.		Archive of the Münsterbauverwaltung.	On the back there is the foundation stone relief from the bridal gate of the cathedral.
Mrs. Hanna	Rabbi Natan	1344			The tombstone is attached to the facade on the first floor of Rabengasse 7.
Rabbi Elijah	Rabbi Yehuda haKohen	1355		Found in 1846 as a floor slab on the perimeter of the Münster square; the cathedral gallery was built shortly after 1499.	Local of the antiquity society.
Mrs. Jutta	Rabbi Joseph	1361		Found in 1626 while paving the Schäfflenmarktplatz.	Lost.
Rabbi Joseph	Menachem	1363		Fragment, part of the Münster square, uncovered in 1846 and lost shortly afterwards.	Lost.
Rabbi Rechabja	Rabbi Alexander	1367			Lost.
Rabbi Moses	Rabbi Gershon	1379	Sandstone, weathered, 130 cm high, 50 cm wide	Found in 1846 as a cover plate on the floor of the cathedral wreath.	Situated to the right of the entrance to the old Jewish cemetery.
Rabbi Kalonymos	Rabbi Schlumiel	1383	80 cm high, 60 cm wide	Found in 1846 as a cover plate on the floor of the cathedral wreath.	Also embedded in the wall surrounding the Jewish cemetery.
Mrs. Mina	Rabbi Moses	1435	Sandstone, still 200 cm high, 100 cm wide	In 1879 the Hebrew inscription was briefly accessible during construction work and was published by Veesemeyer. During construction in 1913, the stone was completely removed.		On the front of the stone the coat of arms of the house owner 1509, the physician Johannes Stocker, and his wife Barbara, as well as Psalm 115.1 (Vulgate). The beginning of the inscription is missing. Ms. Mina was the wife of the rabbi Seligmann, known from Ulm documents.
Mrs. Hünlin	Rabbi Chiskiah	1457	Nürtinger sandstone, 165 cm high, 95 cm wide		In the miner's hut.
Mrs. Miriam	Rabbi Isaac, scholar	1471	Gray sandstone, rounded at the top, 130 cm high, 80 cm wide	Found by the Erlanger merchant in his house opposite the upper room.	In 1875 attached to the wall surrounding the old Jewish cemetery.	Rabbi Ascher HaLevi had this tombstone placed for his wife. Translation of the epitaph: "There is now buried in the abundance of suffering, which is tremendous, [my] wreath and [my] crown, my pious and honest, beautiful and decent wife, Mrs. Miriam, who was torn from me ..."
Rabbi Menachem	Rabbi Simeon	1489		Only known from a copy by Honold (17th century).	Lost.
Rabbi Simon	Rabbi Menachem	1491	Nürtinger sandstone (Keuper), 85 cm high, 60 cm wide		In the miner's hut.	( Photo )
Mrs. Brunlin	Rabbi Jacob	without year	80 cm high, 60 cm wide		In the minster.	The end of the inscription with the year is missing. ( Photo )
Mrs. Gula and Rabbi Abraham	Rabbi Abraham (father of the woman)	without year			Local of the antiquity society.	Gravestone of a married couple, only the middle part has been preserved.
Mrs. Esther, the old woman	Rabbi Meshullam	without year	Yellow limestone (Jura), 80 cm high, 60 cm wide		Is kept in the minster.

Stones built in the Ulm Minster

Some medieval tombstones are kept in Ulm Minster and can be viewed in the choir towers as part of a special tour.

Foundation stone relief

Foundation stone relief of the minster (Ulmer Museum)

On the bridal portal of the cathedral there is a relief that shows how Lutz Krafft, as representative of the Ulm citizenship, kneels and presents the model of the church to Maria. It's a copy. The original was replaced in 1869 to protect it from weathering. During the inspection it turned out that it was the back of a Jewish tombstone. It marked the grave of Rabbi Mose, son of Rabbi Eleazar, who had died in 1341. The Christian stone theft apparently took place soon after the burial, as the foundation stone relief is dated after 1377.

Mina tombstone

Presentation of the Mina tombstone in the Münster (2013)

Reverse side with coat of arms and inscription of the building manager Füsinger (2018)

"Anno Domini 1377. At the behest of the council here in Ulm, Heinrich Füsinger was the first caretaker of the building of the parish church."

This tombstone has been exhibited in the entrance area of the minster under the Israel window since 2005, an installation which, as a “stumbling block”, is a reminder of the medieval persecution of Jews. It is dated August 26, 1288. In 1377, Heinrich Füsinger, the first construction manager of the minster to be built, dedicated it to. The stone was then set into the south wall of the Ulm Minster.


Hebrew	German
האבן הזאת	This stone
שמתי מצבה	I have set as a stone mark
לראש מרת מינה	at the head of Mrs. Mina,
בת ר יצחק הלבי	Daughter of Rabbi Yitzḥaḳ haLevi.
הנפטרת ביום ו	She died on day 6 (= Friday)
כ׳ז באלול מ׳ח	(the) 27th im Elul 48
לפרט לעלף השש	according to the (small) census in the sixth millennium.
מנוחתה בגן עדן	Let your rest be in the garden of Eden .
אמן א א סלה	Amen , amen, amen, Sela .

Stones used in residential buildings

The small tombstone of Hanna (1344) can still be seen on the first floor of the house at 7 Rabengasse .

In the case of the so-called Stocker-Stein at the house of the Ulm city doctor Johannes Stocker, Donaustraße 8 , it can be assumed that the client was anti-Jewish because he had accused Ulm Jews of selling poisonous medicines in 1490. By having a Jewish tombstone redesigned into a coat of arms stone for his house in 1509, he probably documented his success against the competition of Jewish doctors.

Finds in Langenau

A tombstone was discovered in the Langenau cemetery wall as early as the 19th century. It was brought to Ulm in 1934 and installed in the cemetery wall of the old Jewish cemetery. The tombstone has been lost since the destruction of this cemetery during the Nazi dictatorship.

In 1985, during construction work in the Martinskirche, two parts of a tombstone from 1375 came to light, which had been cut into steps in the choir to the high altar. Today the two fragments are kept in a fortified tower near the church.

Web links

Commons : Jewish gravestones in Ulm - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Jewish Historical Association of Augsburg: The old Jewish cemeteries of Ulm

literature

Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm. In: Württembergischer Rabbiner-Verein (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the 70th birthday of the Oberkirchenrat Dr. Kroner , Stuttgart / Breslau 1917. pp. 162–188. ( online )
Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history. Ulm 1896. ( online )
Patrick Stoffels: The Reuse of Jewish Gravestones in the Late Medieval Empire (= Arye Maimon Institute. Studies and Texts. Volume 5). Trier 2012. ISBN 978-3-89890-170-3 , pp. 124-131. (not evaluated)
Georg Veesenmeyer: Something about the former residence of the Jews in Ulm . Ulm 1797, pp. 6-12. ( online )

Individual evidence

^ Susanne Härtel: Jewish cemeteries in the medieval empire . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2017, ISBN 978-3-11-053560-0 , p. 64 .
^ ^A ^b Jewish cemeteries in Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .
^ Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history . Ulm 1896, p. 42 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 165-166 .
↑ The excavation at the construction site of the telecommunications office is over. 22 medieval skeletons unearthed and recovered. In: Schwäbische Zeitung. Alemannia Judaica, March 14, 1987, accessed January 6, 2019 .
^ Felix Fabri: Treatise on the city of Ulm . In: Folker Reichert (Ed.): Bibliotheca Alemannica . Norderstedt 2014, p. 23 .
^ Susanne Härtel: Jewish cemeteries in the medieval empire . S. 274-275 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 167 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 168-169 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 172 .
^ Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history . Ulm 1896, p. 508 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 174 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 175 .
↑ ^a ^b Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history . Ulm 1896, p. 509 .
↑ ^a ^b Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history . Ulm 1896, p. 510 .
^ ^A ^b Markus Brann: Jewish tombstones in Ulm . S. 187 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 182 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 182 .
^ Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 184 .
↑ The hidden chambers in the choir towers. In: Ulm Minster. Retrieved January 6, 2019 .
^ Relief of the foundation stone of Ulm Minster with Jewish grave inscription on the reverse. In: Museum Ulm. museum-digital, accessed on January 2, 2019 .
↑ A stumbling block in the Münster - installation recalls the pogroms in the Middle Ages - "the root of the history of guilt". In: Alemannia Judaica. Retrieved on January 5, 2019 : “The stone was discovered 130 years ago during restoration work and removed from the wall. But until recently it was forgotten and only accessible from the front in the cathedral. The Ulm historian Christof Maihoefer and the Tübingen Judaist Dr.Dr., The historian Christof Maihoefer from Ulm, believe that it will now have a central and above all accessible space from both sides in the entrance area of the church under the Israel window. Thanks to Gil Hüttenmeister. For years they have dealt with the history of the tombstone and committed themselves to an exposed location in the nave. "
^ ^A ^b Jewish cemeteries in Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved January 6, 2019 .

[1] Susanne Härtel: Jewish cemeteries in the medieval empire . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2017, ISBN 978-3-11-053560-0 , p. 64 .

[unihg-2] A ^b Jewish cemeteries in Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .

[3] Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history . Ulm 1896, p. 42 .

[4] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 165-166 .

[5] The excavation at the construction site of the telecommunications office is over. 22 medieval skeletons unearthed and recovered. In: Schwäbische Zeitung. Alemannia Judaica, March 14, 1987, accessed January 6, 2019 .

[6] Felix Fabri: Treatise on the city of Ulm . In: Folker Reichert (Ed.): Bibliotheca Alemannica . Norderstedt 2014, p. 23 .

[7] Susanne Härtel: Jewish cemeteries in the medieval empire . S. 274-275 .

[8] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 167 .

[9] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 168-169 .

[10] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 172 .

[11] Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history . Ulm 1896, p. 508 .

[12] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 174 .

[13] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 175 .

[:1-14] Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history . Ulm 1896, p. 509 .

[:2-15] Eugen Nübling: The Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, especially the Jewish community in the imperial city of Ulm. A contribution to German urban and economic history . Ulm 1896, p. 510 .

[:0-16] A ^b Markus Brann: Jewish tombstones in Ulm . S. 187 .

[17] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 182 .

[18] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 182 .

[19] Markus Brann: Jewish gravestones in Ulm . S. 184 .

[20] The hidden chambers in the choir towers. In: Ulm Minster. Retrieved January 6, 2019 .

[21] Relief of the foundation stone of Ulm Minster with Jewish grave inscription on the reverse. In: Museum Ulm. museum-digital, accessed on January 2, 2019 .

[22] A stumbling block in the Münster - installation recalls the pogroms in the Middle Ages - "the root of the history of guilt". In: Alemannia Judaica. Retrieved on January 5, 2019 : “The stone was discovered 130 years ago during restoration work and removed from the wall. But until recently it was forgotten and only accessible from the front in the cathedral. The Ulm historian Christof Maihoefer and the Tübingen Judaist Dr.Dr., The historian Christof Maihoefer from Ulm, believe that it will now have a central and above all accessible space from both sides in the entrance area of the church under the Israel window. Thanks to Gil Hüttenmeister. For years they have dealt with the history of the tombstone and committed themselves to an exposed location in the nave. "

[:3-23] A ^b Jewish cemeteries in Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved January 6, 2019 .