Jüdengasse / Jüdenstraße Görlitz

A Jewish alley was first mentioned in documents at the beginning of the 14th century; there is also said to have been a Jewish bathhouse (mikvah) and a Jewish churchyard in front of the city wall on the outer side. Under King Johann von Böhmen, the Jews living here obtained protection in 1329; since 1344 there is documentary evidence of a Jewish school (prayer room) in Görlitz. As in many German cities, the Jews living in Görlitz were expelled from the city at the time of the plague, but years later they returned. In 1389 the ruling duke granted the Görlitz council the privilege of keeping the town „free of Jews“ this was connected with their renewed expulsion and economic plundering; the Jewish property – synagogue and cemetery – was confiscated and became the property of the town ürlitz. In 1390 the synagogue was demolished.