Online Archive of Jewish Communities

The settlement of Jews in Hamburg only began in the early modern period around the year 1580 with the immigration of Sephards from Portugal. The immigrants were baptized as Catholics, but continued to practice the Jewish faith. Among them were merchants as well as bankers and jewelers, whose economic network contributed greatly to the foreign trade activities in the Hanseatic city. Because of this, they were often victims of anti-Semitic attacks. For their residence permit in the city, Jewish immigrants from Portugal had to pay large sums of money to the Hamburg Senate.