Heidingsfeld

Summary: The Jewish community of Heidingsfeld was one of only four in Germany to maintain a continuous presence throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Heidingsfeld was, after Fuerth, the largest and most important Jewish community in Franconia. In 1628, the town became home to both a district rabbinate and the rabbinical court for the Wuerzburg region. Several famous rabbis served in Heidingsfeld before 1816 (the year in which the rabbinate was moved to Wuerzburg). Heidingsfeld’s synagogue was built on the Judengasse (“Jews’ alley”) at some point between 1693 and 1698. A cemetery was established in 1811, and the community also maintained a mikveh and an elementary school. In the 1920s, a Jewish woman named Herta Mannheimer was the only female member of the town council. Five pupils attended the school in 1933. The community was eventually disbanded in June 1937, after which the eight remaining families joined the Jewish community of Wuerzburg. The synagogue building was burned down on Pogrom Night. Jewish homes were damaged, and two Jewish men were deported to Buchenwald. At least 19 Heidingsfeld Jews perished in the Shoah. After the war, American soldiers forced local residents to clean up and restore the cemetery. In 1986, a commemorative pillar was erected opposite the former synagogue site.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BAV