A Short Jewish History of Worms, Germany

Worms is a town located southwest of Germany, in the Rhineland-Palatinate. It is one of the oldest German cities and the only one that is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Organization.

Its name has Celtic origins--Borbetomagus means something similar to "a settlement on watery territory". It has been translated into the Latin name Vormatia, which was used since the 6th century. The city has an area of about 108 km² and is home to 80,000 inhabitants.

The place where the city was founded was chosen by the Celts  because of the exceptionally warm and dry climate. Different settlements were already in place during the prehistoric times. One known group during the Bronze Age was the Adlerbergkultur--The Culture of Mountain Eagles.

In the 5th century, the Germanic tribe of Burgundy settled here. By the 7th century, Worms became the seat of bishops. The town‘s significance grew during the time of the Carolingian Empire, when it gained significant influence at its royal court. Charlemagne chose Worms as his summer residence and built a fortress there. In the years 829-926, Worms was the House of the East of the Empire, what later became known as the Holy Roman Empire.

The crypt of the Wormser Dom was the birthplace of the ancestors of Emperor Conrad II, from the family of Sals. In 1049, Leo IX, probably the most important German pope of the Middle Ages, was elected there.

At the turn of millenium, one of the most significant Ashkenazi communities of the then-known world formed here. A Yeshiva opened here, led by one of the most influential rabbis of all time, Shlomo Yitzhak. He is also known as Rashi and has commented on the entire Talmud. In 1096, Crusaders en route for the Holy Land organized a pogrom on the local Jewish community, whose stone synagogue and the ritual bath built in the 11th century were destroyed, killing hundreds of the local Jews.

In 1122, the famous Worms Concordat was closed here. At the end of the 12th century the Roman Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa granted numerous municipal rights to the city, making Worms an imperial city. From then until the 16th century, a power struggle took place between the bourgeoisie and the bishop.

Worms became an important city of the German Reformation, and Martin Luther defended his 95 reformist articules here in front of the Emperor Charles V. Habsburg and the Prince Electors. Worms was turned into a city of evangelical. In 1698, the town was defeated by the French troops of Louis XIV.

It never regained the significance it had in the Middle Ages.

Between 1792-1814, Worms was annexed by France and then annexed to Hesse-Darmstadt in 1816. During the two Allied raids on February 21 and March 18, 1945, majority of the city's buildings were razed to the ground. The raid has destroyed a substantial part of the famous dome, which was rebuilt during the 1950s and 1960s. Internal equipment was partially protected during the war, and partly reconstructed later. In the 1990s, the famous medieval  Jewish quarter with a synagogue and a cemetery were also reconstructed. However the old cemetery still survives, with tombstones dating back to the 11th century.

Though an old town, Worms is rich with the history of the Jews. If you are traveling in Germany, or perhaps on a kosher cruise on the Rhine, this is one destination that should not be missed if you want to learn more of Jewish heritage.

The Tiny But Charming Town Of Dürnstein

The tune of Austrian composer Johann Strauss’s famous waltz, "By the Beautiful Blue Danube" did not lie. Along the picturesque Wachau Valley in Lower Austria, thirty miles of vineyards stretch along the mighty Danube river. In the middle of this is a charming little town with the ruins of a castle looming proudly over the meanders.

This town is called Dürnstein, and is a staple for many river cruises in the Danube. In fact, it is so popular that even kosher cruises, which usually focus on Jewish heritage sites, also visit this village.

Dürnstein is indeed small, having less a thousand inhabitants. It lies directly on the Danube and is one of the most important tourist destinations in the Wachau region, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The surrounding area is known for its wine production. The local vineyards are mainly overgrown with white varieties, such as Riesling or Müller Thurgau.

Whether you go by boat or on the road, following the flow of the river, you can not miss Dürnstein and its dominant, a blue-white baroque church tower. The local monastery’s history begins in 1410, when it was founded as the Dürnstein Abbey by the Canons Regular from Třeboň. In 1710, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style according to plans by Joseph Munggenast, Jakob Prandtauer and Matthias Steinl. The monastery was dissolved by order of Emperor Joseph II in 1788 and soon fell to the Herzogenburg Priory.

If you look up the little town, you cannot miss the silhouette of a humongous medieval castle’s ruins, built on a rocky slope. The legend has it that King Richard I of England, known as Richard the Lionheart, was held captive by Leopold V, Duke of Austria after their dispute during the Third Crusade in 1192. Richard the Lionheart had offended Leopold the Virtuous by casting down his standard from the walls at the Battle of Acre, and the duke also suspected that King Richard ordered the murder of his cousin Conrad of Montferrat in Jerusalem. Consequently, Pope Celestine III excommunicated Leopold for capturing a fellow crusader. The duke finally gave the custody of the king to Emperor Henry VI, who imprisoned Richard at Trifels Castle.

According to another legend, a loyal servant of the name Jean Blondel freed Richard the Lionheart after seeking his master across Austria for months. When he finally arrived at the castle, he started singing Richard’s favorite song. The second verse was suddenly answered from a grilled window of the dungeon by the prisoner. Jean recognized his master and helped him escaped.

The town itself gained its name from the castle. It was known ever since as "Dürrstein", from the German "dürr" meaning "dry", and "Stein", meaning "stone“. Altogether it meant "A Dry Stone“. It is an allusion describing the conditions within the castle area. Since it is located on a tall, rocky, windy hill,  it does not share the damp conditions of the Danube at the base of the hill. Built mostly out of stone, the conditions contrasted dramatically with the humid valley.

A so-called Donkey Trail leads from the village all the way up to the castle. If you feel like hiking, take good shoes and go up. The view overlooking the entire area of the Wacha Valley is breathtaking and is definitely worth the effort.

Synagogue in Orlová

The Great Synagogue in Orlová was a temple-type Reform Judaism synagogue that stood in Orlová from 1900 until the beginning of the 2nd World War. After the Sudeten Jewish was displaced and abandoned the synagogue, the local fascists damaged and eventually destroyed it when the Nazis occupied the Czech lands.

Not much is known about the history of the Orlov Jews; It has been difficult to find sources with more details. As of now, only one family has been identified: one Silberstein-Sylten family.  There are no Jews currently residing in Orlova. The nearest community is found in the neighboring city of Ostrava.

Orlov Temple on a photo-postcard from the first half of the 20th century

Thus, organized kosher tours in this area are rare. However, there are still Jewish travelers who visit the city.

The Jews in Orlová 

The beginnings of the Jewish settlement in Orlova are still unclear, but it is likely that it is similar to the rest of the Ostrava-Karvina region: the Jews settled here only after the uprisings after 1848. The main economic focus of the Jews was trade and financial services. Many Jews were lawyers or doctors. Some engaged in large-scale businesses such as breweries, distilleries, and the coal, chemical, and heavy industries. These overlapped on both sides of the border (Ostrava, Karvina , Katowice, Bielsko-Bela).

In Orlova, probably during the 1880s, 1890s or during the early 20th century at the latest, a Jewish religious community was formed. In 1900, the Jewish section at the local public cemetery was documented.

In 1908, the Israelitische Frauenverein für Orlau und Umgebung ("Association of Israeli Ladies for Orlova and its Surroundings") had already proved to be an educative and charitable activity, and was especially helpful during the 1st World War. There were also mentions of an Israelitische Bethaus-Verein ("The Jewish Prayer Society").

Around 1930, there were 394 Orlov citizens claiming to be Jewish.  A Zionist movement began in the area, as elsewhere in the Ostrava region.

After the Sudeten was occupied by the Nazis, the Orlov Jewish community disappeared, and the relatively short but rich history of the local Jews ended. The synagogue was completely destroyed between 1938 and 1941, and almost all local Jewish citizens were killed during the Holocaust. One of the Orlov Jews, Robert Sylten, survived the war as a member of the Czechoslovak Republic Army Corps in the USSR. He emigrated to Israel afterwards.

New Synagogue

The Jewish Prayer Society announced in the newspaper "Neue Schlesische Zeitung"  that "on the blessed 60th anniversary of the reign of His Emperor's Highness Franz Joseph I, on Sunday, November 29, 1908, a solemn worship service was held at the local Orlová temple where a festive sermon will be delivered by Dr. Fryštát's Rabbi Mehrer ".

The new, opulent synagogue was built probably on 1901 according to plans by Viennese architect, Prerov native Jakob Gartner, in the Neo -Gothic style with Moorish elements in what would be Petra Cingra Street.

According to preserved photographs, it was a square, stand-alone two-storey building oriented in the West-East axis. The four faces were dominated by pilasters separated by portals with large rosette windows with a David’s star motif. The façade was decorated with bosai, and the top of the shields were adorned with decorative balls.

For the interior, it can be assumed that it had a typical modern synagogue style that was during the 19th century, like the interior of the Spanish Synagogue in Prague. The bima was directly linked to the aron ha-kodesh, and a choir with organ probably existed for worship. The interior space was most likely separated into male (ground floor) and female (1st floor) sections.

Because it was inspected, the synagogue was certainly heated - and very likely also electric-powered. At the same time, it is very likely that there was also a rabbi and a social space within the building. No picture material of the interior has yet to be discovered. Other secondary materials to identify the history and nature of the building are still missing as well.

The synagogue served the local Orthodox Jewish community in the so-called Munich Agreement, where the territory of northern Silesia was annexed by Poland. The Czechs and Jews were expelled from the city or fled, and the synagogue was deserted. A year later, after the outbreak of the war and the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany, Orlava became part of the Empire, and the synagogue was brought down. The foundations of the building are still visible on the site. It is likely that archaeological research can still lead to new findings.

Old Synagogue and Postwar Prayer Room

 

Israeli Orlová prayer association in the newspaper Neue Schlesische Zeitung

 

 

 

In addition, there was a second, probably older synagogue in the town until 1938, roughly between the streets of Bedřich Smetana and František Palacký. This synagogue - perhaps just a prayer house - was for Orthodox traditions. No image or other secondary documentation for this building has yet to be found.

After the war, the Orlav community was renewed for a while, and the Prayer house was adapted to a residence. In 1974, the Orlav Jews fell under the jurisdiction of the Ostrava community.