Jewish residential area (Eisenach)

Already Landgrave Hermann I (1190-1217), in order to promote economic life in the city, is said to have invited Jews to build houses near the market. The Jewish settlement in the "Judengasse" (today's Karlstraße), in medieval times "the best alley" in the city, could date back to this time. The first Jew known by name in Eisenach was probably the author of synagogal poetry Jechiel ben Jakob (1235). In 1283, the Eisenach city law established provisions regarding Jewish residents. In 1343 one side of the "Judengasse" burned down. The persecutions during the plague period also affected the Eisenach Jews. In the second half of the 14th century they settled again for a few decades, but in 1411 or later the Jews were expelled from Eisenach as well as from the other Thuringian towns. In 1510, the Jews were allowed to trade for a few years, but not to settle in Eisenach.