Metadata: Jewish Community Aurich; Jewish Community Bodenfelde; Jewish Community Burgdorf; Jewish Community Esens; Jewish Community Goslar; Jewish Community Göttingen; Jewish Community Hameln; Jewish Community Hannover; Jewish Community Markoldendorf-Lüthorst; Jewish Community Osterholz-Scharmbeck; Jewish Community Pattensen; Jewish Community Sögel; Jewish Community Weener
Collection
- Country:
- Germany
- Holding institution:
- New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum Foundation, Archive
- Holding institution (official language):
- Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin - Centrum Judaicum, Archiv
- Postal address:
- Oranienburger Str. 28-30, 10117 Berlin
- Phone number:
- 0049-30-88028-425
- Web address:
- www.centrumjudaicum.de
- Reference number:
- CJA, 1 A Au 2; 1 A Bo 3; 1 A Bu 6; 1 A Es 2; 1 A Go 2; 1 A Go 4; 1 A Ha 6; 1 A Ha 9; 1 A Ma 10; 1 A Pa 4; 1 A So 1; 1 A We 1
- Title:
- Jewish Community Aurich; Jewish Community Bodenfelde; Jewish Community Burgdorf; Jewish Community Esens; Jewish Community Goslar; Jewish Community Göttingen; Jewish Community Hameln; Jewish Community Hannover; Jewish Community Markoldendorf-Lüthorst; Jewish Community Osterholz-Scharmbeck; Jewish Community Pattensen; Jewish Community Sögel; Jewish Community Weener
- Title (official language):
- Jüdische Gemeinde Aurich; Jüdische Gemeinde Bodenfelde; Jüdische Gemeinde Burgdorf; Jüdische Gemeinde Esens; Jüdische Gemeinde Goslar; Jüdische Gemeinde Göttingen; Jüdische Gemeinde Hameln; Jüdische Gemeinde Hannover; Jüdische Gemeinde Markoldendorf-Lüthorst; Jüdische Gemeinde Pattensen; Jüdische Gemeinde Sögel; Jüdische Gemeinde Weener
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish Community Aurich (Synagogengemeinde Aurich); Jewish Community Bodenfelde (Synagogengemeinde Bodenfelde); Jewish Community Burgdorf (Synagogengemeinde Burgdorf); Jewish Community Esens (Synagogengemeinde Esens); Jewish Community Goslar (Synagogengemeinde Goslar); Jewish Community Hamlin (Synagogengemeinde Hameln); Jewish Community Markoldendorf-Lüthorst (Synagogengemeinde Markoldendorf-Lüthorst); Jewish Community Pattensen (Synagogengemeinde Pattensen); Jewish Community Sögel (Synagogengemeinde Sögel); Jewish Community Weener (Synagogengemeinde Weener); Central Archives of the German Jews (Gesamtarchiv der deutschen Juden)
- Date(s):
- 1710/1924
- Language:
- German
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 0.7 linear metres (69 archival units)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
There are thirteen small collections of Jewish communities from the former Prussian province of Hanover.
No archival documents have survived from the Hanover synagogue community, but there are eight folders with mostly printed material from the years 1897-1914, including the statutes of the following Jewish associations: Israelitischer Krankenpflegeverein [Israelite Nursing Association], Israelitischer Frauenverein [Israelite Women’s Association], Gesellschaft zur Ausstattung von israelitischen Bräuten [Society for the Dowry of Israelite Brides], Verein zur Unterstützung israelitischer Armen [Association for the Relief of the Israelite Poor], Verein zur Beförderung des Handwerks in der Provinz Hannover [Association for the Advancement of Crafts in the Province of Hanover]. Another file contains the statutes of 1907 and a report written by Eugen Katz in 1914 on the activities of the Alexander and Fanny Simon Foundation since 1907. There is also an excerpt from the will concerning the foundation founded by Salomon Michael David in 1790 (copy) and the provisions for the Simon und Carl Koppelsche Stiftung [Simon and Carl Koppel Foundation], established in 1881.
There are a total of seven files from Hameln: in addition to a file with general correspondence and materials on the history of the community (1760, 1834-1899, 1921-1924), there is a contract for the purchase of the cemetery property, 1743, and the accounts of the synagogue construction, 1837- 1839, as well as two files of the Hameln magistrate regarding the salary of the state rabbi in Hanover and taxes of the Jews. Another file with general subjects (including ‘protected Jews’ and dispositions) from the years 1710-1722 is badly damaged and cannot be used. The collection also includes a folder on the Israelitischer Frauenverein [Israelite Women's Association] in Hameln with printed statutes from 1909 and additional information material.
From the municipality of Pattensen (Hanover district) only one file has survived. It dates from 1870-1890 and includes circulars from the state rabbis Samuel Ephraim Meyer and Selig Gronemann in Hanover. It also contains timetables of the Jewish school and teacher’s reports, statutes of the library and various printed items, including: Report on the educational institute for Jewish teachers in Hanover during its 25 years of existence, Hanover 1873; Statute and reports of the support fund for Jewish teachers, their widows and orphans in the province of Hanover, 1870-1878; Programme for the pre-celebration of the centenary birthday of Sir Moses Montefiore on 25 October 1884 in the synagogue in Hanover.
From Burgdorf (administrative district of Lüneburg) there are four general files from the period 1832-1896 (notifications and orders from the state rabbis Nathan Marcus Adler and Samuel Ephraim Meyer in Hanover (partly in Hebrew script), community meetings, synagogue regulations), a small file with marriage contracts and documents regarding the estate settlement of the family of Nathan Israel (1813, 1828, 1835). Also included in this collection are the printed statutes of the Charity Association (Chewra Gemiluth Chassodim), 1898.
There are four small collections from the state rabbinate district of Hildesheim. From Bodenfelde there is a file on the general administration of the community, 1824-1861 (correspondence with the district rabbis Adler in Hanover and Meyer Landsberg in Hildesheim, community resolutions, accounts of the synagogue construction 1824-1825) and a file with the statutes, minutes and reports of the Charitable Society, 1854-1870.
Only four folders have survived from Göttingen: in addition to minutes and other documents of the Orthodox religious society (1905-1906) they include the printed community regulations from 1884 and the cemetery regulations of the synagogue community. The collection also includes some printed items of the Israelitischer Frauenverein [Israelite Women's Association] (statutes, 1901, and annual report for 1911).
There are three files, dating from 1845-1888, of the Goslar synagogue community: a community ledger book, a repertory of files and account books as well as the synagogue regulations (partly in Hebrew).
The only item that exists from the synagogue community of Markoldendorf/Lüthorst is a cash book for the years 1836 to 1903, which also contains the names of the community members with their dues for 1861-1884.
From the state rabbinate district of Emden, administrative district of Aurich, the communities of Aurich, Esens and Weener are represented. Four files from the period 1765, 1811, 1862–1898 have survived from Aurich. In addition to individual older documents, including a receipt from 1765 for the creation of the cemetery (Hebrew), it contains a list of community members who are eligible to vote (no date). The largest part of the collection consists of accounts (income and expenses) for the years 1866-1898.
There are 21 files from the synagogue community of Esens from 1845-1891, most of which concern the community administration and finances. Two files contain complaints from parishioners in Westeraccumersiel against their liability for parish contributions and their request for separation from the Esens community in favour of the closer synagogue community in Dornum. Additional files concern matters of worship, shechita, inheritance and welfare.
Three files on the general administration of the community, 1849-1856, have been preserved from Weener. They concern the board of directors, letters from the state rabbi Hermann Hamburger in Emden, lawsuits, finances, religion, teachers and school. The collection also includes a file on the financing of the new school building, 1851-1852, and a file on the estate of Meyer M. Ballin, 1853.
From the administrative district of Osnabrück, for which the rabbinate in Emden was also responsible, there are seven files of the synagogue community of Sögel (in Emsland) from 1867-1902 with documents on the general administration of the community (dispositions, printed items), notifications on the election of the new district rabbi Jonas Zwi Hermann Löb 1893, accounts, religious and school matters. One file concerns the efforts of the members in Lathen, Börger and Lorup to break away from the community and school association, 1875-1891.
There is a separate description for the collection of the Stade administrative region.
- Archival history:
- The files of the synagogue community of the administrative district of Hannover were part of the former Gesamtarchiv der deutschen Juden [General Archive of German Jews]. The printed items were kept in the general archive in a separate collection (Collection Süßmann). In 1996 the Federal Archives transferred the holdings to the archive of the New Synagogue Berlin Foundation - Centrum Judaicum.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The Kingdom of Hanover came into existence after Napoleon's defeat in 1814 as the successor state to the Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (Kurhannover). In 1833 around 11,000 Jews lived there - the majority in East Frisia, around Hildesheim and in the city of Hanover. The civil equality of the Jews which had been achieved in the French period was initially withdrawn. Eventually the law on the legal relations of Jews in the Kingdom of Hanover (30 September 1842) improved the legal status of Jews. The territory of the kingdom was divided into four districts, each of which was supervised by a state rabbi, with headquarters in Emden (East Frisia), Hanover and Hildesheim (where rabbinates already existed) and Stade.
The Jewish residents of the kingdom were obliged to form Jewish communities within the established synagogue districts (if they did not already exist), which were responsible for religious tasks and for providing religious instruction. The state rabbis had already been given the responsibility for compulsory schooling for Jewish children in 1831.
After the defeat in the German (Austro-Prussian) War in 1866, Prussia annexed the territory of the Kingdom of Hanover as the new province of Hanover. The organisation of the state rabbinates was retained; it was not until the Weimar Republic that the task of school supervision was lifted due to the separation of state and religion. The Hanoverian ‘Landdrosteien’ [separately administered regions] were converted into six administrative districts in 1885 (Aurich, Hanover, Hildesheim, Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Stade).
The city of Hanover had been the residence of the Dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (Kurhannover) since the 17th century, and later became the capital of the state/province of the same name. After repeated expulsions in the Middle Ages and in the 16th century, Jews again began to settle in the ‘Neustadt’ [new town] in the 17th century; they were only allowed to reside in the old town after 1800. From 1687 Hanover was the seat of the state rabbi. At the beginning of the 20th century, over 5,000 Jews lived in the city.
In Hameln, Jews are mentioned as early as the 13th century; At the end of the 16th century a few Jewish families had returned to live there. A Jewish community was founded in 1732, and a new cemetery was established around 1743. Around 1800 there were 13 Jewish families living in the city, after 1850 the community grew considerably and reached its highest number of members around 1900 (about 230).
In Pattensen a community was reestablished at the beginning of the 19th century, which was constituted as a synagogue community in 1843. By 1858 the community had built a synagogue with a school and a mikveh. Around 1890, 86 Jews lived in the town.
A protected Jew settled in Burgdorf for the first time in 1689. In 1830 there were 95 Jews living in the town; by 1885 the community, which also included Jews in the surrounding areas, had around 130 members.
A Jewish family was first mentioned in Bodenfelde (Hildesheim district) in 1689. From 1753 there was a prayer room, in 1825 a new synagogue was built. The synagogue district was established in 1843 and also included the Jews in Uslar, Wahmbeck and Lippoldsberg. The Charity Association (Chewra Kadischa) was founded in 1854. In 1812 there were 13 Jewish families in Bodenfelde, around 1860 there were 65 Jews in the village, after which their number fell.
The resettlement of Jews in Göttingen began in the second half of the 16th century; the synagogue community was formed in 1844. The community built a new synagogue in 1869-1872, which was expanded until 1895. Due to the lack of a mikveh, some of the Orthodox members split off from the community and held separate services. Before the First World War almost 700 Jews lived in Göttingen.
In the Middle Ages, Goslar was an important imperial residence and until 1802 it was a ‘reichsunmittelbar’ city [i.e. answerable directly to the emperor]. The city then fell to Prussia, under French rule it belonged to the Kingdom of Westphalia and finally became part of Hanover from 1816. There were already Jews in Goslar in the Middle Ages, and some Jewish families settled there again from the 16th century onwards. In 1848, 64 Jews lived in the city, although their number fell in the following years.
The Emsland belonged to Hanover from 1814. A ‘protected’ Jew settled in Sögel for the first time in 1767. The district of the synagogue community of Sögel was established in 1844 and also included Lathen and Werlte. At the end of the 19th century there were 68 Jews living in Sögel; the community comprised around 150 members in total.
After the sovereign dynasty died out in 1744, the principality of East Frisia fell to Prussia, after the French occupation it became part of Hanover and thus returned to Prussia (district of Aurich) in 1866. The seat of the state rabbinate was in Emden, which was also responsible for the Osnabrück administrative district. Jews settled in Aurich, Esens and Weener from the 17th century at the latest. Aurich had the second largest Jewish community in East Frisia (after Emden). In 1765 a Jewish cemetery was established, a synagogue was inaugurated in September 1811. In 1802 around 25 Jewish families (170 people) lived here; in 1885 the community reached its highest number with 406 members. The community in Esens established its own cemetery in 1702 and built a synagogue from 1827 (consecrated in 1828); the community also had an elementary school. In 1840 there were 124 Jews in Esens, from then on their number decreased. A few Jewish families lived in Westeraccumersiel (now part of Dornum) from the 18th century. They belonged to the community of Esens until 1872, when they joined the synagogue community of Dornum.
A Jewish resident was first mentioned in Weener in 1645. The community consecrated a newly built synagogue in 1829 and built a schoolhouse by 1853. The number of parishioners reached its highest number in 1885 with 231.
- Access points: locations:
- Aurich
- Bodenfelde
- Burgdorf
- Dornum
- East Frisia
- Emden
- Esens
- Goslar
- Göttingen
- Hameln
- Hannover
- Lüneburg
- Lüthorst
- Markoldendorf
- Osnabrück
- Pattensen
- Sögel
- Weener
- Westeraccumersiel
- Access points: persons/families:
- Adler, Nathan Marcus
- Ballin, Meyer M
- David, Salomon Michael
- Gronemann, Selig
- Hamburger, Hermann
- Israel, Nathan
- Koppel, Carl
- Koppel, Simon
- Landsberg, Meyer
- Meyer, Samuel Ephraim
- Finding aids:
- An online finding aid exists.
- Links to finding aids:
- www.findbuch.net
- Yerusha Network member:
- Centrum Judaicum
- Author of the description:
- Miriam Haardt and Barbara Welker; Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin - Centrum Judaicum; 2019-2020