Metadata: Jewish Community Drossen; Jewish Community Friedeberg/Neumark; Jewish Community Lippehne; Jewish Community Reetz; Jewish Community Schermeisel; Jewish Community Schönfließ/Neumark; Jewish Community Schwiebus; Jewish Community Woldenberg
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 Dr 3; 1 A Fr 9; 1 A Li 4; 1 A Re 5; 1 A Sche 1; 1 A Scho 3; 1 A Schw 6; 1 A Wo 1
- Title:
- Jewish Community Drossen; Jewish Community Friedeberg/Neumark; Jewish Community Lippehne; Jewish Community Reetz; Jewish Community Schermeisel; Jewish Community Schönfließ/Neumark; Jewish Community Schwiebus; Jewish Community Woldenberg
- Title (official language):
- Jüdische Gemeinde Drossen; Jüdische Gemeinde Friedeberg/Neumark; Jüdische Gemeinde Lippehne; Jüdische Gemeinde Reetz; Jüdische Gemeinde Schermeisel; Jüdische Gemeinde Schönfließ/Neumark; Jüdische Gemeinde Schwiebus; Jüdische Gemeinde Woldenberg
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish Community Drossen (Synagogengemeinde Drossen); Jewish Community Friedeberg/Neumark (Synagogengemeinde Friedeberg/Neumark); Jewish Community Lippehne (Synagogengemeinde Lippehne); Jewish Community Reetz (Synagogengemeinde Reetz); Jewish Community Schermeisel (Synagogengemeinde Schermeisel); Jewish Community Schönfließ/Neumark (Synagogengemeinde Schönfließ/Neumark); Jewish Community Schwiebus (Synagogengemeinde Schwiebus); Jewish Community Woldenberg (Synagogengemeinde Woldenberg)
- Date(s):
- 1773/1921
- Language:
- German
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 1.36 linear metres (113 archival units)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
There are a total of 13 collections from the administrative district of Frankfurt/Oder in the former Prussian province of Brandenburg, including some very small collections.
From Drossen (now Ośno Lubuskie) there are 14 files dating from 1836-1888, mostly concerning the board of directors and the representatives, as well as personnel matters of the religious officials and the revised statute of the synagogue community (1880). There is also a file on the construction of the synagogue and the school house with the mikveh, budget and other financial documents, a service order (1876) and accounts of the women's association. A large part of the files from Drossen is in a very poor state of preservation.
The collection of the synagogue community of Friedeberg/Neumark (now Strzelce Krajeńskie) comprises 21 files from the years 1834-1911, mainly concerning the board of directors (statutes, elections, minutes, correspondence) as well as personnel matters (including applications for the position of religious official) and lawsuits. There are also records relating to real estate, council tax and cash books, grants. In addition, there is a list of assets (inventory) of the community (including real estate with location sketches), around 1881.
There are 11 files from Lippehne (now Lipiany) from the period 1773-1903. They comprise general files (community meetings, board, budget and records of tax debts, religious officials), as well as accounts of income and expenses and a file on the community’s buildings (including the construction of the synagogue 1790-1791).
Only two files have survived from Reetz (now Recz): employment contracts with the religious officials (teacher, cantor and slaughterer) from 1866-1896 and a file on real estate and property, 1829-1894 (including accounts for the bathhouse and cemetery, purchase and lease agreements ).
From Schermeisel (now Trzemeszno Lubuskie) there are 11 files from the period 1816-1905, in addition to general files (decrees of the authorities, community officials, minutes) these are mostly financial documents (cash books, budget, receipts). The collection also includes a kuntres from the early 19th century as well as handwritten "Regulations on religious customs both in and outside the synagogue", 1829.
The collection of the community of Schönfließ/Neumark (now Trzińsko Zdrój) contains 8 files from 1866-1920, mainly general files of the board of directors and the representatives (meetings, budget and record of outstanding tax) as well as a file on the community membership of the businessman Moritz Herrmann, 1890-91, and a file on the legal dispute with the teacher, cantor and slaughterer David Cohn, 1872-73.
There are 20 files from Schwiebus (now Świebodzin) from the years 1890-1921 - mainly general files (statutes, board of directors and representatives). There are also files on the application and employment of religious officials, with separate personal files for Julius Gallandt, 1891, Julius Rawitscher, 1908, and the cantor Salomon Lewin, 1912-1916. There is also a printed statute of the Chewra Kadisha, 1904. The collection also contains a thin file from the company L. Silberstein Söhne on the delivery of agricultural machinery to Ukraine, 1918. Some of the documents are badly damaged.
From Woldenberg (now Dobiegniew) there are 26 files from the period 1845-1897. The collection contains general files (directives from the authorities, board members and representatives), as well as personnel matters (application and employment of religious officials), legal disputes, real estate (including synagogue construction) and financial matters. Some of the files are in a poor state of preservation.
There are separate descriptions for the collections of the municipalities of Arnswalde (now Choszczno), Driesen (now Drezdenko), Frankfurt/Oder, Landsberg/Warthe (Gorzów Wielkopolski) and Seelow.
- Archival history:
- The files of the synagogue communities in the administrative district of Frankfurt/Oder were part of the former Gesamtarchiv der deutschen Juden [General Archive of German Jews]. In 1996 the Federal Archives transferred the holdings to the archive of the New Synagogue Berlin Foundation - Centrum Judaicum.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
After the expulsion in the 16th century, the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich Wilhelm permitted the resettlement of Jews in the country in 1671, which happened rapidly in Neumark. Around 1717 there were 54 Jewish families in Neumark. The Jewish minority was subject to special restrictions and taxes. They were not recognised as citizens until the edict of March 1812, although some rights were later withdrawn; it was not until 1869 that they received full equality. With the law on the conditions of the Jews of 1847, the communities became public corporations, which were now called synagogue communities. The administrative district of Frankfurt/Oder was established in 1816, mainly comprising the part of the Prussian province of Brandenburg (Neumark) east of the Oder.
In addition to the long-standing Jewish community in Frankfurt/Oder, before 1914 the larger communities were located in Arnswalde, Cottbus and Landsberg a.d. Warthe.
In Drossen (Sternberg district) there was a very small community; after 1840 around 50 Jews lived there.
After 1850, around 200 Jews lived in the town of Friedeberg/Neumark; after 1900 their number fell rapidly - around 1913 the community still had 68 members, in 1925 only 44. Jews lived in Woldenberg (also in the district of Friedeberg) as early as the Middle Ages. The modern community came into being at the end of the 18th century; around 1843 there were 85 Jews there. The community had a synagogue.
In Lippehne (Soldin district) a small community was reestablished as early as the 18th century. It was given a site for a cemetery in 1737 and a synagogue was built in 1790/91. Around 1840 over 60 Jews lived here.
Around 80 Jews lived in Reetz (Arnswalde district) after 1840, and 30 around 1913. The community had a synagogue.
The town of Schermeisel and the surrounding area belonged to the province of Brandenburg (Sternberg district) from 1816. Around 1840 over 230 Jews lived here. Before 1914 the community had 24 members. There was a cemetery, a synagogue and, in the 19th century, a Jewish school.
More than 100 Jews lived in Schönfließ/Neumark in the middle of the 19th century, and around 50 before the First World War. The community had a synagogue and a cemetery.
In Schwiebus (Züllichau district) there were 10 Jews around 1840; before the First World War there were 60.
The communities to the west of the Oder in the former administrative district of Frankfurt/Oder now belong to the State of Brandenburg, while the communities to the east of the Oder have been part of Poland since 1945.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Cohn, David
- Gallandt, Julius
- Herrmann, Moritz
- Lewin, Salomon
- Rawitscher, Julius
- Finding aids:
- An online finding aid exists.
- Links to finding aids:
- www.findbuch.net
- Yerusha Network member:
- Centrum Judaicum
- Author of the description:
- Barbara Welker; Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin - Centrum Judaicum; 2019