2023-09-17 21:29:00
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has awarded the Medieval Jewish Monuments of Erfurt, Germany, World Heritage Site status. This was reported on the UNESCO website on Sunday, September 17. The decision was made at the Extended 45th session of the committee, held in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. The Jewish monuments of Erfurt have become the 52nd World Heritage Site in Germany.
“This makes another important contribution to making visible the common roots of Jews and Christians in Germany and Europe and preserving them for the future,” German Ambassador to UNESCO Kerstin Pürschel commented on the committee’s decision.
In 2021, monuments of Jewish history in the German cities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz – the so-called “Jerusalem on the Rhine” – have already received World Heritage status under a separate application.
Medieval Jewish monuments of Erfurt. Photo gallery
Application from Erfurt
Documents for assignment of World Heritage Site status to the Medieval Jewish Monuments of Erfurt (The Jewish-medieval heritage in Erfurt) were officially handed over to UNESCO in Paris in 2021 after a multi-year process of preparing a special dossier, the necessary expertise and projects.
On the territory of Erfurt there are several objects related to the history of the local Jewish community in the Middle Ages: the Old Synagogue (Die Alte Synagoge Erfurt), the ritual bath – the Erfurt Mikveh (Die Erfurter Mikwe) and the so-called Stone House (Das Steinerne Haus).
Medieval synagogue
A 14th-century Jewish wedding ring is on display at the Erfurt Synagogue MuseumPhoto: Martin Schutt/dpa/picture alliance
A special place among them is occupied by the historic Erfurt Synagogue – the oldest and best preserved medieval synagogue building in Europe. If we use the official wording, we are talking about the oldest such building, preserved right down to the roof. The oldest parts date back to 1094. During the period of development and prosperity of the local community, the temple was expanded and rebuilt twice – around 1270 and 1300.
The fact that this building was originally erected as a synagogue was virtually forgotten in Erfurt, so the former Jewish temple was not destroyed during the time of National Socialism.
The stone building was profaned in the middle of the 14th century. This was preceded by a pogrom on March 21, 1349 – one of numerous pogroms against Jews in Europe during the catastrophic plague epidemic. After the expulsion of the Jews from Erfurt and the cessation of the existence of the first local community, the building first became the property of the city and was soon sold to one of the merchants. Then it was redeveloped for use as a warehouse and for about five centuries it did not undergo any further changes.
Traces of destruction, presumably during the pogrom of 1349. Photo: Ulrich Kneise/Stadtverwaltung Erfurt
During these works, a vaulted basement was excavated and equipped under the building, and two ceilings made of wooden beams and planks were erected inside. The roof structure was also modified to make use of the attic for storing goods. Part of the façade on the street side was dismantled and gates were installed for the passage of horse-drawn carts.
At the end of the 19th century, a restaurant was installed in the building, which operated until 1990. A dance hall was equipped on the second floor, and a kitchen and a room with tables were located on the first floor. Bowling alleys were also installed on the ground floor and in the basement.
Elements of the design of the hall for dances and balls on the second floor Photo: Norman Hera/Stadtverwaltung Erfurt
There are no obvious signs that the building was originally erected as a synagogue…
The history of this place in the capital of Thuringia was remembered only in the early 1990s, thanks to the research of historians. At this time, after the Reunification of Germany, the unique architectural monument was in disrepair. In 1998, the city bought the former synagogue from the previous owner. A long and painstaking process of repair and reconstruction was then begun, the goal of which was to return the building to its historical appearance from the outside – as far as possible.
They decided to abandon attempts to recreate the temple space inside in Erfurt, making a choice in favor of preserving the authenticity of this place and demonstrating different periods of the history of the building. Following the completion of these works, a museum dedicated to the history of Jewish life in Erfurt was opened here in 2009.
In 1354, just a few years after the pogrom, Jews began to return to this Thuringian city. The second community existed here until the mid-1450s, when the Jews were forced to leave Erfurt again, this time under pressure from the city council.
Enlarged images of a medieval Jewish wedding on display at the museum Photo: Norman Hera/Stadtverwaltung Erfurt
Now the museum displays, in particular, unique exhibits from the treasure of 1349 – the “Erfurt Treasure”, hidden shortly before the pogrom. The treasure was discovered in 1998 in the wall of a house in the former Jewish quarter. In total, more than three thousand silver coins, various silver bars, several hundred gold jewelry and other jewelry from the Gothic era were found – in particular, a golden wedding ring in the form of a castle, which can be seen in the photo gallery at the beginning of this material.
The museum also displays copies of ancient manuscripts from the 12th to 14th centuries, the originals of which are kept in Berlin. The most famous of these documents is the Erfurt Tosefta, the oldest of three such collections compiled by Jewish teachers of the law that have survived to this day.
Erfurt Mikvah
Modern entrance to the Erfurt MikvahPhoto: IMAGO
In 2007, in Erfurt, not far from the Old Synagogue near the Shopkeepers’ Bridge, a well-preserved Jewish ritual bath – a mikveh – was discovered during archaeological excavations. After the completion of excavations and the necessary construction work in 2011, the Erfurt Mikvah was made accessible to the public.
The first mention of this mikveh dates back to 1248. Historical documents contain information that the Jewish community paid money for renting a plot of land first to the bishop, then to the city. In Germany, the remains of such medieval mikvahs have survived only in Worms, Speyer and Cologne.
The parts of the Erfurt Mikvah that have survived to this day authentically demonstrate different construction phases – the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. Based on its size and high quality of construction, scholars classify this monument as a so-called monumental mikvah – in contrast to small private mikvahs located in the basements of residential buildings.
Erfurt MikvahPhoto: Norman Hera/Stadtverwaltung Erfurt
During the pogrom of 1349, the mikvah suffered significant damage, but was later repaired and used for purification rituals by members of the second Jewish community. After 1454 the pool was filled in. The room located above it served as a cellar until the 20th century.
The mikvah itself had an unusual design. To create a pool in which groundwater was collected, it was enough to equip a shallow underground room here on the river bank. Other monumental mikvahs from the Middle Ages that have survived to this day in Germany take the form of shaft wells of varying depths.
This ritual bath was very important for the life of the medieval Jewish communities in Erfurt. It was used by women and men to carry out washing ceremonies before visiting the synagogue, as required by religious rules – in particular, after childbirth, menstruation, contact with the dead or sick. Also, glass and metal utensils made by non-Jews had to be immersed in the living water of the mikvah before first use.
Stone house
Stone housePhoto: Norman Hera/Stadtverwaltung Erfurt
The third site in the application for UNESCO monument status was a residential and commercial building in the Old City that belonged to Jewish owners. The building is located in the middle of dense medieval buildings. The first information about Jews who owned this house dates back to 1293.
Architectural historians consider this Stone House a unique monument of the profane architecture of its time. The oldest part is the 12th-century stone arch over the entrance, dating from the Romanesque period.
According to dendrochronological examination, the wooden floors and ceilings of the building are made from trees felled in 1247.
Wooden ceiling in a Stone HousePhoto: Norman Hera/Stadtverwaltung Erfurt
These elements retain traces of medieval coloring. This case, as noted in the documents for UNESCO, is the oldest example of a painted wooden ceiling in a profane building north of the Alps.
Depot for storing medieval tombstones in the basement of the Stone House Photo: Stadtverwaltung Erfurt/Norman Hera
Since the 15th century, the building has not undergone significant changes, as it was used as a warehouse for centuries. The complex of medieval houses, of which the Stone House is a part, now houses the offices of various departments of the city administration and the tourism department.
The ceiling paintings in the hall on the second floor were found during the reconstruction of the buildings in the early 1990s, after which it was decided not to modernize this part of the historical building and to carry out proper conservation of this historical monument.
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