Mikveh in the Gerbertorhaus in Dörzbach

The Gerbertorhaus, Klepsauerstraße 11 in 74677 Dörzbach, was built by order of Johann Christoph von Eyb, verifiable on the basis of mayor's invoices from 1665, and provided access to the tanners' quarter on the Mühlenkanal to the south of the village.

As part of a renovation of the building, accompanied by the preservation of architectural and artistic monuments, a mikvah was uncovered and examined in the basement area of the house. It has been mentioned in written sources as a Jewish women's bath since the 17th century. There were no further sources about its preservation and positioning in the cellar area. A team from ArchaeoBW GmbH was commissioned to uncover and document the remains of the mikvah in order to record its current state of preservation. Several construction phases were identified.

The placement in the Gerbertorhaus, the layout of the mikvah itself and the different construction phases identified during the archaeological investigation show how the non-Christian faith was dealt with in the early modern and modern periods. A secular cellar mikveh is visible here. Its appearance shows how other mikvahs were designed in smaller villages and towns. The use of a mikvah is defined by the Jewish faith. The destruction of Jewish ideas and culture during the National Socialist era robbed us of many of these mikvahs. The mikvah in Dörzbach escaped destruction thanks to its filling and covering.