Mikveh (Sondershausen)
| Mikveh from Sondershausen | |
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| place | Sondershausen |
| Construction year | 2nd half of the 13th century |
| Coordinates | 51 ° 22 '11.6 " N , 10 ° 52' 10.7" E |
| particularities | |
| medieval cellar mikwe | |
The mikveh of Sondershausen is, next to one in Erfurt and Görlitz, another medieval mikveh in eastern Germany. It is important as a particularly typical example of a Jewish ritual bath . While in the cities of West Germany with large Jewish communities, Monumentalmikwen have been known since the 12th century, for example in Speyer , Worms , Cologne and Friedberg (Hesse) , the special house mikveh is one of the smallest. The oldest ritual baths are in Jerusalem and at the Masada Fortress in Israel .
Rediscovery
During the preparatory work for the construction of the “Galerie am Schlossberg” in Sondershausen, archaeologists examined the building site. In 1998/99 they found the remains of the foundation wall of the synagogue from the 19th century. A few meters further north, the excavators came across a well that was filled with rubbish. After removing the cylindrical parts of the well, a groundwater surface was revealed at a depth of 4.5 m, which was initially interpreted as a water extraction point. When an angled staircase was found that led into the trapezoidal wall, the experts agreed that it was a Jewish ritual bath. The dimensions are: 1.25 m wide and side walls of 1.40 and 1.60 m. The depth was probably 1.60 m.
history
The mikveh is on the outside of the city wall. When building the city wall, consideration was given to the existing mikveh, because the wall is kinked at this point. Since the dates of the construction of the city wall are known, one could deduce the age of the mikveh. Accordingly, the mikveh was created in the second half of the 13th century. Archaeologists draw the conclusion from vessel fragments found on the cellar stairs from the 14th century that the mikveh was abandoned at that time. It was the time of the plague pogroms in Thuringia around 1349.
The prerequisites for a ritual bath were given: 1. Spring water or groundwater , which is available in the facility without human intervention. 2. The depth must allow complete immersion. In the High Middle Ages , cellar mikwen, which could also be housed in a private house, were built in German cities. The mikveh in Sondershausen was extensively renovated in terms of monument preservation and can be visited as part of the city tour.
Another preserved Jewish facility in Sondershausen is the Jewish cemetery below the Spatenberg. It was laid out in 1699 and used until 1939. The city maintains this facility as a memorial.
See also
Web links
literature
- Diethard Walter: Event on the occasion of the pogrom night . In: Stadtverwaltung Sondershausen (Ed.): Schwarzburg-Sondershäuser Heimatecho . No. 24, 2001, ZDB -ID 27571-2 , p. 8.
- Gabriele Isenberg: Middle Ages: Church and city life . In: Uta von Freeden, Siegmar von Schnurbein (ed.): Traces of the millennia. Archeology and History in Germany . Published by for the Roman-Germanic Commission. Konrad Theiss Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8289-0581-1 , p. 413, (there also illustration).