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Frankfurter Judengasse

The Frankfurter Judengasse (lit.'Jews' Lane') was the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt and one of the earliest ghettos in Germany. It existed from 1462 until 1811 and was home to Germany's largest Jewish community in early modern times.

At the end of the 19th century, most of the buildings in the Judengasse were demolished. The area suffered major destruction during World War II and reconstruction left no visible signs of the ghetto in today's townscape of Frankfurt.


Post-war usage of the area included a car park, a petrol station and a wholesale flower market. The decision to build an administrative complex triggered a public discussion as to what should be done with the archaeological remains uncovered during the excavation in 1977. The foundations of 19 buildings were found and five of these can be seen at the "Museum Judengasse" which was incorporated into the new building.[1]

Inside the old cemetery

Inside the old cemetery

Remains of destroyed memory stones

Remains of destroyed memory stones

Outside the wall

Outside the wall

Memory stones for murdered Jews

Memory stones for murdered Jews

The Jewish Cemetery as depicted in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906)

The Jewish Cemetery as depicted in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906)

Old Jewish Cemetery on Battonnstraße.

Old Jewish Cemetery on Battonnstraße.

Very few of the headstones are left in the cemetery.

Very few of the headstones are left in the cemetery.

Fritz Backhaus (Hrsg.): „Und groß war bei der Tochter Jehudas Jammer und Klage...": Die Ermordung der Frankfurter Juden im Jahre 1241. Band 1 der Schriftenreihe des Jüdischen Museums Frankfurt am Main. Sigmaringen 1995, Thorbecke-Verlag,  3-7995-2315-4

ISBN

Fritz Backhaus, Gisela Engel, Robert Liberles, Margarete Schlüter (Hrsg.): Die Frankfurter Judengasse. Jüdisches Leben in der Frühen Neuzeit. Band 9 der Schriftenreihe des Jüdischen Museums Frankfurt am Main. Frankfurt am Main 2006. Societäts-Verlag,  3-7973-0927-9

ISBN

Michael Best (Hrsg.): Der Frankfurter Börneplatz. Zur Archäologie eines politischen Konflikts, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1988,  3-596-24418-8

ISBN

Amos Elon: Der erste Rothschild. Biographie eines Frankfurter Juden, Reinbek 1999  3-499-60889-8

ISBN

Frankfurter Historische Kommission (Hrg.): Frankfurt am Main – Die Geschichte der Stadt in neun Beiträgen. Sigmaringen 1991. Jan Thorbecke Verlag,  3-7995-4158-6

ISBN

Walter Gerteis: Das unbekannte Frankfurt. Neue Folge. Frankfurt am Main 1961. Verlag Frankfurter Bücher

Isidor Kracauer, Geschichte der Juden in Frankfurt a. M. (1150–1824). 2 Bände, Frankfurt a. M. 1925–1927

Eugen Mayer: Die Frankfurter Juden, Frankfurt am Main 1966, Waldemar Kramer Verlag

Friedrich Schunder: "Das Reichsschultheißenamt in Frankfurt am Main bis 1372," in: Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst, Heft 42, Frankfurt 1954

Egon Wamers, Markus Grossbach: Die Judengasse in Frankfurt am Main. Ergebnisse der archäologischen Untersuchungen am Börneplatz, Thorbecke-Verlag, Stuttgart 2000,  3-7995-2325-1

ISBN

Note: The following are all in German.

Museum Judengasse Frankfurt

. Museumsufer Frankfurt. Retrieved 21 December 2022.

"Museum Judengasse"

Infobank about the Judengasse Frankfurt

at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York. This collection contains original materials dating back to 1719 documenting life in the Jewish community of Frankfurt am Main.

Gerald J. Oppenheimer Collection

at Google Arts & Culture.

Online exhibition about the history of the Judengasse