Done towering into the sky, the other, as it were, hidden in the ground: visible from afar, the Adolf Tower, built in 1347, dominates the exterior of the district town in the Wetterau, while the Jewish bath, the Mikveh, which is almost a hundred years older, looks like a tower sunk into the ground . The immersion bath reserved for ritual ablutions was driven 25 meters deep into the hard basalt rock as a five-metre square. The descent over 72 narrow steps makes it clear with rare urgency how close the cultures seemed to be side by side – and yet were strictly separated.
The Gothic pointed arches, construction technique and workpiece signs suggest that it was executed by Christian stonemasons who were working on the parish church of Our Lady at the same time. The men probably didn’t feel comfortable helping to build a site for the Mosaic cult. As a precaution, they walled up bell parts discovered during later excavations. They are shown in the Wetterau Museum, which also has other unusual exhibits, such as the largest Roman treasure in Germany, which counts 1000 coins, or the sword of the imperial herald Kaspar Sturm, with which he helped Luther on his way to the Reichstag in Worms.
As there, the Jews of Friedberg, who made up a quarter of the population, had to live in a ghetto. Protected by imperial privileges, however, they were largely spared persecution and expulsion. The long construction period of the mikvah also speaks for a permanent settlement. Out of necessity: Since the inflow was prevented by “Christian” wells and watercourses, groundwater or spring water had to be drilled into. In the high-lying Friedberg, the crystal-clear water was only encountered at great depths, which is still three to five meters high, regardless of precipitation, and is constantly seven degrees. It borders on the miraculous that the mikvah, unlike the synagogue and the Jewish community, which had around 300 members before 1933, survived the barbarism of the Nazi era. Supposedly the decisive factor was that “German” stonemasons were at work.
In Friedberg, the polarity of the aristocratic and bourgeois worlds joins the Jewish and Christian cultures. Although both belonged directly to the empire, the castle and the town formed two completely autonomous communities, which for centuries waged a petty war over money, sinecures and privileges. Up to 100 knights and burgraves lived as a self-governing aristocratic republic in the fortress area, which is one of the largest in Germany at almost four hectares. After the loss of importance, the most diverse functions and buildings benefited the preservation of the complex. In view of a Renaissance castle (now the tax office), the classicist church, the half-timbered houses and sober functional buildings, one imagines oneself as in an autonomous community.
Directions
Friedberg has regional and S-Bahn connections, but parking in the narrow old town is either not available or only available for a fee. There are two multi-storey car parks in the vicinity of the station and another (“City”) close to the centre. From the station you can quickly get to the town center if you turn right after 100 meters beyond the forecourt into Bismarckstraße. It ends at the Wetterau Museum and the town church behind it that towers over everything. Although it lacks a tall tower. The lords of the castle knew how to prevent this, as no building should be higher than the 58 meter Adolf Tower.
Continue straight ahead through Engelsgasse to the older part, which has retained a rare originality with its small parts and the graying houses that have not been restored down to the last corner. Only Jewish life is missing, as becomes apparent when descending into the mikvah and on the nearby synagogue square.
Always in the picture: the 58 meter high Adolf Tower, built in 1346, on the northern edge of the mighty castle complex.
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Image: Thomas Klein
The gate building of the castle complex can be reached via the narrow street Judenplacken. You can choose to walk through it to the Adolf Tower, or you can walk on the east side through the extensively renovated Burggarten. Here, too, the climbable tower forms the orientation mark. In front of it you walk down to the street, around the castle foundation and change at the traffic light into the wide valley of the USA.
With a view of the Johannisberg, head towards Bad Nauheim after the B 3 without going any deeper. The mighty graduation buildings III and IV stand in front of the center like a wall. The 150 meter long scaffolding on the left can be circumnavigated on a raised platform, while the one on the right, 300 meters long, is at ground level. The windmill that helped pump brine onto the blackthorn-studded walls is currently being restored.