Destinations for the Jewish traveler - Part 2: Germany

There are however many places that are of great Jewish historic interest. With Frankfurt as the base, the areas of Hesse and North-Rhein Westphalia can easily be combined in one visit to see much of the Jewish history of earlier centuries.

From the famous who lived and worked there, which include the Rothchild’s, Nachum Goldman, Martin Buber and many others, one can see the creativity and energy that emerged from Frankfurt Jewry. Even one of Frankfurt’s prestigious newspapers The Frankfurter Allgemeine traces its origin to Jewish founders.

A newer attraction is the Jewish Museum Franksfurt situated at Bertha Pappenheim Square. It was opened by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl on 9 November 1988, the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht. The building was once owned by the Rothchild family. The museum traces the history of Jews in Frankfurt from the 12th century as well as the history of German Jewry in general. Several of the rooms in this classicist building which was erected in 1821 have been restored to their 19th century décor. Among the items exhibited are a Haggada, the Passover story printed in Frankfurt in 1731 and a circular device that converts dates from the Jewish into the secular calendar. 

 

But the best feature of the museum is the scale model of the Frankfurt ghetto. The Judengasse (Jew’s Lane) burned down in 1711. But plans from its seven-year reconstruction still exist.

From there it’s not far to the Jewish Quarter. Approach from the Zeil, the pedestrian shopping mall in the heart of the city, head south on Fahrgasse and turn left to An der Staufenmauer. 

You will pass through an arch, part of the ghetto wall of the 15th century. The Boerner Strasse Synagogue stood on the site of the Ghetto prayer rooms (Stieblach) until it was destroyed on Kristallnacht. Photographs of its burning building and large numbers of people watching are among the most published and best known. 

The Frankfurt Jewish Community Center opened in 1986 and is one of the most impressive Jewish structures built in post-war Germany. It is located at Westend Strasse 43. A few blocks away is the Westend Synagogue, the only one in the city to survive Kristallnacht. It features vaulting stone arches under a massive cupola.

35 miles south is the historic city of Worms, which is well worth a visit. Though the great Jewish sage Rabbi Shlomo Itzchaki better known as Rashi spent only five years studying there in the 1060’s, his name has been firmly linked with Worms, partly because there are no tangible places associated with his hometown Troyes in France.

Repeatedly damaged and restored on top of the old Roman foundations and barrel-vaulted cellars, the Rashi Synagogue houses the Sage’s original chair and is a faithful reconstruction of the house of worship built on the site in 1034. On the outside of the building is the original dedication stone identifying the Synagogue’s 11th century donors “Yaakov and Rachel.” 

Next to it is today’s Rashi House, the former dance and wedding hall of the Jewish Quarter. It now houses the city archives, including the microfilmed history of the old Jewish community as well as the Jewish Museum with many models of Jewish life through the centuries.

In the garden, a narrow stairway leads down to a mikva (Jewish ritual bath) which dates from 1198. Worms also has the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe with about 2000 tombstones. The hard sandstone quartz tombs stood up well since the first one was erected there in 1076. There is a section designated as “Valley of the Rabbis.” Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg and the Baal Shem of Worms are two of the many sages buried there.

Not far away is Speyer, which like Worms was a Torah center from the 12th to the 14th century. It houses the best preserved medieval Mikva in Europe which was built in Romanesque style in 1084. Descending a long staircase, the visitor passes indentations for lanterns and benches where husbands waited for their wives. The mikveh was fed by the river Rhine and operated until 1534.

Also on the river Rhine is Cologne which had many illustrious Jewish citizens including the composer Jaques Offenbach. Jews came there with the Romans in 70 CE. They are mentioned in two edicts by the Emperor Constantine in 321 and 331 CE. Not much more is known of the first millennium.

One of the remaining medieval sights, a stairwell of hewn sandstone leads almost 50 feet below ground to the pool fed by the Rhine which served as Mikva from 1170 until it was covered up after the 15th century expulsion. 

Re-discovered after World War II, it was renovated and reopened in 1979, and is covered by a glass pyramid. Details of opening and the key may be obtained from city hall. 

Probably one of the oldest Jewish presences in the area was in Trier, where archeological evidence points to the 3rd and 6th centuries, although there is no documentation until the 10thcentury. The oldest site is the Judengasse (Jew’s Lane) It is a short and narrow street just off the city’s main market. No. 2 is believed by historians to be the oldest private Jewish house in Germany. Nearby is a sign that says “Schikeria” (a pub).

Rabbi Mordechai Marx, the community rabbi in the 1760s, and his son Samuel were great-grandfather and grandfather respectively of Karl Marx. The house where the political philosopher was born is today a museum and one of the most popular attractions in Trier.

Throughout this year there are events in many cities to celebrate 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany. For instance, the city of Trier is holding a special exhibition, highlighting the century-long coexistence of Jews and non-Jews and special guided tours will explain Jewish life as it once was. 

It should be noted that amid the escalation in violence between Israel and Hamas in May, there was an uptick in anti-Israel attacks. Among other things, rocks were thrown at windows of a synagogue in Berlin and an Israeli flag was burned outside a synagogue in Munster. A fire was lit on top of a stone memorial for a synagogue destroyed in Dusseldorf, and in Gelsenkirchen, police dispersed a mob chanting antisemitic threats outside a synagogue.

“Attacks on Jews and Jewish targets are always motivated by antisemitism, no matter the attempt to contextualize them with geopolitical events 3,000 miles away,” said European Jewish Congress President Dr. Moshe Kantor. 

“We call on law enforcement agencies in Germany and across Europe at this delicate time of tension to provide the necessary protection for our communities and to adopt an unequivocal policy of zero tolerance to the purveyors of hate.” 

The writer, at 97, holds the Guinness World Records as the oldest active journalist and radio show host. He presents Walter’s World on Israel National Radio (Arutz 7) and The Walter Bingham File on Israel Newstalk Radio. Both are in English.