Bleicherode

In Bleicherode existed a Jewish community until 1938/42. Already in the Middle Ages Jews lived in the city. 1368 to 1389 Jews "von Bleicherode" are proven in Erfurt. In 1418 the Jews of Bleicherode paid 1 gulden bull money to the empire. From the years 1482 and 1488 there are reports of robbery attacks on traveling Jews in Bleicherode. In 1589 there were five Jewish families in the town. In 1593 the Jews were expelled. Around 1620 there were - apparently only for a short time - Jews in the town again. In 1683 a Jew from Bleicherode is mentioned in the visitor directories of the Leipzig fairs of the year 1683  With the annexation of the county of Hohnstein to Prussia there was a flourishing of Jewish life in the town after 1700 . In 1725 86, in 1728 already 155 Jewish inhabitants were counted. In 1799, for the first time, a Jewish resident was granted citizenship. 

In the 19th century the number of Jewish inhabitants developed as follows: 112 Jewish inhabitants in 1812, 121 in 1816, 151 in 1840, about 100 in 1860, 110 in 1861, 147 in 1900 (with a population of about 3,300), 151 in 1910.  Jewish tradesmen earned special merits in the development of the textile industry in the town.