Online Archive of Jewish Communities

Isaak Hess (1789-1866) opened an antiquarian bookshop in his hometown of Lauchheim in 1817, which he moved to Ellwangen in 1838. The antiquarian bookshop soon became one of the most important of its time and was continued after Hess' death by his sons Moritz and Sigmund. The building at Schmiedstraße 6 also served as a residence.

Hess also became an early board member of Lauchheim's Jewish community and played an important role in the emancipation of Württemberg's Jews in the 19th century.

The construction of the synagogue at 69 Langenstraße was started in 1786. A year later it was consecrated. In 1913 the synagogue was completely rebuilt. The second inauguration took place on September 16, 1913. On that day, the mayor at that time wished that the Jewish inhabitants* of Stralsund may continue to live together with the Christians in peace and solidarity. However, this peace did not last long. On the night of November 9-10, 1938, SA men and Hitler Youth destroyed Jewish stores and homes. They also partially destroyed the synagogue by setting it on fire.

Hüls, a district of Aachen, had and has no Jewish community. Since 2007, there is a cemetery next to the Christian cemetery, which serves the current burials.

From 1820 there were individual Jews in Haaren. Although the community strove for independence, the construction of a synagogue was refused. Even for the establishment of a prayer room it was not enough because of the small number of Jews.

From 1798, the first Jews are recorded in Eilendorf. They had a small private prayer room and from 1885 their own cemetery.

The cemetery was inaugurated in 1885 and last occupied in 1935. Today there are still 16 gravestones on the site. They are mostly no longer legible.

After Albert Loose gave up his 1905 founded " company and textile store Merkur " already in 1906 and the family left for Königsberg in September 1906, Alfred and Berta Bernheim continued the business. In December 1910, the Bernheims acquired the Merkur department store in Ludwigstraße. Around 1912, Alfred Bernheim bought the adjoining corner house at Theresienstrasse 2. In addition to the house at Ludwigstrasse 7 (four rental lots), which he owned in 1914/15, Alfred Bernheim also purchased the house at Ludwigstrasse 15 in 1916, in which the Bernheims also had a store.

What a contrast to the synagogue of 1827, which was still hidden in a backyard: In 1870, the New Synagogue by the eminent Jewish architect Edwin Oppler was inaugurated on an open square in Hanover's Neustadt. In its size and the chosen architectural style, the new building expressed a growing self-confidence and the belief that as Jews they had arrived in German society on an equal footing. For, Oppler said, "The Romanesque style is German through and through."