Mikvah (Ritual Bath)

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.

The stairs lead to the small pool, which was not covered in the past. Behind the covered hole is the main pool, which is located under the floor of the Zagreus. 

The mikvah is located in the garden of the synagogue. It was built in the years 1184 to 1186 in the Romanesque style. It is one of the äoldest preserved ritual baths in the world. An above-ground bathhouse, demolished in the 19th century, also in Romanesque style, probably also served the Säuberung.

Today, a staircase leads to a narrow antechamber, which probably served as a changing niche. From there, a semicircular curved staircase leads seven meters down to the water level. The mirror is today at seven meters from the ground surface.

In the middle of the 20th century, the basement floors of today's Hindenburgstraße 20/22 always showed damp spots after heavy rainfall. When investigating the cause, one came across a hole about 20 meters deep, at the lowest point of which were old wooden planks. According to oral tradition, this is supposed to be a so-called "Judenbrunnen" in earlier times. This was a (non-Jewish) name for a mikveh, a ritual bath in Judaism.

see description "Jewish community center" and "Krefeld synagogue".

See description of the Rheydt synagogue.