Archaeologists have uncovered 18 Jewish gravestones from the Middle Ages in the old town of Mainz. The stones were probably stolen from the city’s Jewish cemetery after the late medieval pogroms and built into a wall as filler material. It is therefore evidence of the significant historical legacy of the Jews in the region and, at the same time, traces of the hostility to which these people in Germany and Europe were repeatedly exposed.
As so often, construction work called the archaeologists on the scene: stones with Hebrew characters had appeared on Rheinstrasse in the east of Mainz’s old town.
In November 2020, the State Archeology of Mainz uncovered a total of 18 specimens of these finds. They are now stored in a depot of the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Mainz-Bretzenheim, where their inscriptions are currently being scientifically recorded. What the gravestones are basically about, however, is already clear, reports the Ministry for Science, Further Education and Culture of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate (MWWK): They were once stolen from the Jewish cemetery in Mainz, founded in the 11th century, and used for other purposes .
Installed in a wall
“The tombstones were built into the Rhine bank wall in the 15th century, at the latest in the first half of the 16th century,” explains Marion Witteyer from the State Archeology Department in Mainz. According to her, the pogroms of 1438 were possibly the reason for the destruction of the tombs. “The finds are traces of the important Jewish history of Mainz and also shed light on the dark phases of history when Jewish graves were desecrated here and in many other cities in Germany and Europe and tombstones were reused as building material,” said Witteyer. A more detailed analysis of the inscriptions should now clarify whether the newly found Mainz gravestones also include those of known medieval Jews, says the archaeologist.
As the MWWK reports, Mainz, together with Speyer and Worms, formed an important center of Jewish life throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The association of these communities in the Middle Ages is known as “ShUM”. The cemetery in Mainz, also known as “Judensand”, is the oldest Jewish burial place in Germany and at the same time the largest from the period up to 1300. The oldest dated Jewish gravestone in Central Europe from 1049 comes from him – it is now in the Mainz State Museum. The cemetery, which has been preserved in parts to this day, was of far-reaching importance: Basic principles of the layout and grave design influenced Jewish burial sites throughout Central Europe, writes the MWWK.
Further traces of Jewish history
However, the gravestones from the old Jewish cemetery that have now been discovered are not the first built-in examples that have reappeared. As early as 1926, numerous medieval tombstones previously found during construction were placed in a memorial cemetery that is still in the area of the old cemetery. In order to mark the subsequent installation, in 1926 the gravestones were deliberately not oriented towards the east, which is common in Jewish cemeteries. Their setup, on the other hand, follows a serpentine path and was intended to remind of the deceased in a special way.
“The gravestones that have now been rediscovered are further centuries-old testimonies of Jewish roots and tradition in Mainz. We will now clarify together with the Jewish community how we will deal with the finds, ”says Minister of Culture Konrad Wolf. The rabbi of the Jewish community Mainz Aharon Vernikovsky says: “The gravestones found are without question of great historical and religious importance for the development of the Jewish history of medieval Mainz.” The deputy chairman of the Jewish community Mainz, Joanna Wroblewska-Nell adds: “These Gravestones could also stand for the fact that Jewish life in Mainz not only has a history, but should also have a future. “
Source: Ministry for Science, Further Education and Culture of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate