Rödelheim is a quarter of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany. It is part of the '' Ortsbezirk Mitte-West'' and is subdivided into the ''Stadtbezirke'' Rödelheim-Ost and Rödelheim-West. There are a number of celebrities who have established their base in Rödelheim, including Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt, Mathias Barbosa and

Sabrina Setlur Sabrina Setlur (born 10 January 1974), formerly known as Schwester S., is a German rapper. Her debut was in 1995 under the guidance of 3p Records executive and mentor Glashaus, Moses Pelham, producer of her breakthrough single "Ja Klar". Followin ...

. In 2015 the skeletons of 200 French soldiers that had died in 1813 were discovered here.

Jewish history in Rödelheim

From the 17th century, Rödelheim developed into a centre of

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

Kabbalistic Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

folklore. An edition of the Ma'assebuch was published here in 1753 by Jona ben Josche Gamburg and printed by Karl Reich. In 1799, the publisher and scholar Benjamin

Wolf Heidenheim Benjamin Wolf ben Samson Heidenheim (; 1757 – February 23, 1832) was a German Biblical exegesis, exegete and grammarian. Biography Early life Born at Heidenheim, Bavaria, Heidenheim, at an early age Heidenheim was sent to Fürth, where he stud ...

founded a printing press that published Jewish prayer books and theological works. Heidenheim then lived in Rödelheim until his death in 1832.

Seligman Baer Seligman (Isaac) Baer (1825–1897) was a Masoretic text, Masoretic scholar, and an editor of the Hebrew Bible and of the Siddur, Jewish liturgy. He was born in Mosbach, the northern district of Biebrich, on 18 September 1825 and died at Biebric ...

, a

masoretic The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

scholar and Hebrew grammarian of the modern period, also published in Rödelheim. Rödelheim had become a major center for the printing and export of Hebrew books, many of which can be found in the

Jewish Museum of Switzerland The Jewish Museum of Switzerland in Basel provides an overview of the religious and everyday history of the Jews in Basel and Switzerland using objects of ritual, art and everyday culture from Middle Ages, the Middle Ages to the present. Hist ...

’s collection. Between 1680 and 1700, the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community assembled in a barn. The first

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

was established in 1730 at Schulstraße No. 9 (today's Inselgäßchen). At this time the Jewish community consisted of about 80 people. The Jewish community of Rödelheim was subject to the rabbinate of

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

. With the growth of the community, a new synagogue was built and consecrated on 29 June 1838. Ludwig Thudichum, the pastor of the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Cyriakusgemeinde, gave an inauguration speech. The synagogue was built in an “oriental” style of architecture. It was damaged on the night of the 9/10 November 1938 (" Reichspogromnacht"), the interior having been set on fire. The last residents had to leave the building on 3 November 1939, after which it was used as a storage room for a car repair shop. The building was destroyed by Allied bombs on 22 March 1944. Today, the site of the synagogue is marked with a memorial by sculptor Christof Krause, erected in 1979. An extension was added in 2015, with a row of paving stones indicating the outline of the synagogue and 8 stone blocks indicating the rows of seats. A stone with the relief of a menorah marks the site of the former Torah shrine. In addition, there are a number of

Stolpersteine A (; plural ) is a concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. Literal translation, Literally, it means 'stumbling stone' and metaphorically 'stumbling block'. ...

(stumbling stones) in Rödelheim commemorating the lives of Jews and others persecuted under

National Socialist Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

rule.

References

Districts of Frankfurt Jews and Judaism in Frankfurt Yiddish culture in Germany {{Hesse-geo-stub