The Jewish Community

In the early Middle Ages, Jewish long-distance traders from Italy and southern France settled in the Rhenish towns along the important trade routes.

The first Jewish community in Mainz can be traced back to the middle of the 10th century at the latest. Mainz became the "mother community" of Jews in the Rhineland. The community significantly contributed to the city’s flourishing and urban development. Emperors and bishops encouraged Jews to settle by granting them privileges and issuing letters of protection. Periods of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Jews were followed by repeated anti-Jewish pogroms.

A Jewish community has a synagogue, a mikvah (ritual bath) and a cemetery. The Mainz cemetery "auf dem Judensand" is the oldest and largest medieval Jewish cemetery in Europe.

The tombstone of Yehuda son of Schne'or is the oldest surviving dated tombstone north of the Alps. Amram, son of Jonah, was one of the most important scholars of the Jewish community in Mainz. According to the epitaph, he came to Mainz from Jerusalem. He died on the "Day of Wrath," that is, during a persecution of Jews on 31 August 1086.