Mikveh (Hohenems)

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On the left the former mikveh and on the right the schoolhouse
View from the northeast
Exit to the bathroom

The mikveh in Hohenems , a town in the Austrian district of Dornbirn in Vorarlberg , is a well-preserved and renovated facility for ritual cleansing in the Jewish quarter, which, along with other cultural and historical evidence (synagogue, school or poor and old people's house), represents the centuries-long coexistence of two communities - the Christian and the Jewish - in this place testifies.

The mikvah in Hohenems is currently the oldest known and preserved mikveh in Austria and is a listed building. The mikveh has been open to the public since March 2010.

Location

The Hohenems Mikveh is located next to the former schoolhouse (built between 1824 and 1828) in Schulgasse 1 in the so-called former Jewish quarter, which is a listed building as a whole.

history

From 1617 Jews had a more or less secure legal position in Hohenems by means of a letter of protection. It is assumed that there was already a mikveh in Hohenems in the 17th century, or that it is believed to have been in or near the former Jewish wash house. Remnants of it are neither preserved nor known. The synagogue was completed in 1772 and a mikveh was subsequently set up in the basement (under the rabbi's apartment ). In 1805 this was supposed to be renewed and made more comfortable, but this was not realized for cost reasons. In 1810 the Jewish community was asked by the responsible regional court in Dornbirn to build a modern cleaning facility. It is not certain whether the mikveh in the basement was also renovated during the renovation of the synagogue in 1816/17. Because of water ingress at the mikveh under the synagogue and expensive repairs, a new building was sought.

On October 24, 1828, an application was made to build a completely new mikveh, the one that still exists today, and on May 8, 1829, building permits were granted. The building was erected in a short time and cost around 700 guilders . Parts of the old mikvah were also used in the new mikveh. The new mikveh was heated and was probably only used by women. The administration of the mikveh was for a long time the responsibility of Babette (Payerle) Landauer, the wife of the butcher Benjamin Landauer. The Hohenems mikvah was a modern cleaning facility for the time, where the groundwater was mixed with hot water according to strict rules. This made it possible to have a comfortable bath with complete immersion.

It is believed that the new mikveh was used until the last decades of the 19th century. In the 1920s, a Wagner used the mikveh as a workshop.

After the “Aryanization” of the Jewish assets and the subsequent return to the Israelite Religious Community, the building was sold and referred to as a laundry room in the purchase agreement . The plunge pool was filled in and the ground level part of the former mikveh was used as a shoemaker's workshop and storage room.

In 1996 the basin in the partial basement was exposed again and the building was restored in 2009. The mikveh has been a branch of the Jewish Museum since 2010 and can be visited.

Architecture and structure

The exterior of the mikveh in Hohenems shows a relatively inconspicuous little house in the courtyard of the former Jewish school. The building was constructed by master builder Josef Ammann from Hohenems.

The simple, single-storey structure with a hipped roof is around 9.6 m long, 4.5 m wide and around 5.2 m high. The partial basement in which the mikveh is located is around 2.3 m deep. Like the door, the two tall rectangular windows are embedded in a sandstone setting. The style of the unadorned building is more reminiscent of a large garden house (in a way similar to the Jewish women's bath in Lengnau , Switzerland ).

The outer walls are made of rubble stones with a thickness of about 0.6 m, a partition inside made of brick. The 1.79 × 1.46 meter plunge pool is lined on the walls with sandstone slabs up to 1.27 meters high and has a barrel vault.

In addition to the plunge pool, the local circumstances and the original building description indicate that there was a well shaft ( shaft well ) equipped with a pumping station . In any case, the groundwater level is now too low to be able to use the bath as a mikveh today.

use

Use as a ritual bath

The new mikvah was leased to a resident member of the Jewish community, as was already the case with the old one under the synagogue and in many Jewish communities. The rent for the old mikveh is said to have been 44 guilders a year, and for the new mikveh 60 guilders. The visit to the mikveh itself was charged with 12 to 24 cruisers. For comparison: a visit to the nearby sulfur bath (therapeutic bath) was charged at 12 to 18 kreuzers per bath, with another bath on the same day being free of charge, as only warm water was poured in.

today

The former mikvah is now a branch of the Jewish Museum and has been open to visitors since 2010 alone or as part of a guided tour. The bath itself is not open to the public for conservation reasons.

literature

  • Julia Ess: Mikwe Hohenems - A Jewish ritual bath from the early 19th century. Diploma thesis, Technical University, Vienna 2015 ( available online )
  • Jewish Museum Hohenems / Franconia in Fürth / Frankfurt (ed.): All in! Jewish ritual baths. Vienna 2010.

Web links

Commons : Schulgasse 1 (Hohenems)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Decision of the Austrian Federal Monuments Office of November 15, 1996, GZ 19.385 / 17/96.
  2. ↑ See also the parallel special exhibition (traveling exhibition) of the Jewish Museum in Hohenems : Quite pure! Jewish ritual baths from March 9, 2010 to October 3, 2010.
  3. ^ Aron Tänzer, History of the Jews in Hohenems and the rest of Vorarlberg , Meran 1905, p. 579 f.
  4. ↑ Julia Ess Mikwe Hohenems - A Jewish ritual bath of the early 19th century , diploma thesis, p. 48 with evidence.
  5. ↑ a b The Hohenems Mikveh , website of the Jewish Museum in Hohenems.
  6. ^ Aron Tänzer, History of the Jews in Hohenems and the rest of Vorarlberg , Meran 1905, p. 580.
  7. ↑ Julia Ess Mikwe Hohenems - A Jewish ritual bath of the early 19th century , diploma thesis, p. 51.
  8. ↑ a b Bettina Dyttrich: Who invigorates the living water , official and advertising paper of the communities Hohenems, Götzis, Altach, Koblach and Mäder, 122nd YEAR, Friday, March 12, 2010 NO. 10.
  9. ↑ Julia Ess, Die Mikveh von Hohenems Architectural and Historical Contemplation , DAVID Jewish Culture Magazine, Issue 103, December 2014 and Bettina Dyttrich: Whom the living water revives .
  10. ↑ Julia Ess Mikwe Hohenems - A Jewish ritual bath of the early 19th century , diploma thesis, p. 61.
  11. ↑ Julia Ess Mikwe Hohenems - A Jewish ritual bath of the early 19th century , diploma thesis, pp. 69, 77 and 85.
  12. ↑ Julia Ess, Die Mikveh von Hohenems Architectural and Historical Contemplation , DAVID Jewish Culture Magazine , Issue 103, December 2014.
  13. ↑ Julia Ess, Die Mikveh von Hohenems Architectural and Historical Contemplation , DAVID Jewish Culture Magazine , Issue 103, December 2014.
  14. ^ Official and advertising gazette of the municipalities of Hohenems, Götzis, Altach, Koblach and Mäder, VOLUME 122, Friday, March 12, 2010 NO. 10.
  15. ↑ Julia Ess Mikwe Hohenems - A Jewish ritual bath of the early 19th century , diploma thesis, p. 89 ff.
  16. ↑ Norbert Peter in " The sulfur bath according to old reports ", contribution in Emser Almanach No. 7, Hohenems 2003, ISBN 3-902249-27-7 , p. 93.

Coordinates: 47 ° 21 '58.1 "  N , 9 ° 41' 17.6"  E