Regensburg Cathedral: New lettering should better classify the "Judensau"

The anti-Semitic depiction of the "Judensau" at Regensburg Cathedral is to be provided with a new text commentary and thus classified historically.

Representatives of the state of Bavaria, the Jewish community and the Catholic Church have agreed on this, as the anti-Semitism commissioner of the state government, Ludwig Spaenle (CSU), and the chairwoman of the Regensburg Jewish community, Ilse Danzinger, announced on Friday.

Spaenle said that anti-Jewish depictions on historical buildings should “not go uncommented”, and that society as a whole must “find a fundamentally conscious and responsible way of dealing with it”. At the same time, these representations on churches or secular buildings should not be removed “even in a kind of iconoclasm”. Because they are "at the same time places of remembrance for dramatic images of bygone times," says Spaenle.

The chairwoman of the Jewish community, Ilse Danziger, said that nowadays anti-Semitism is "unfortunately present again everywhere and again socially acceptable".

It is therefore important to “point out any kind of hostility towards Jews and hatred”.

For this reason, the Jewish community is against simply removing the abusive plastic.

"It is part of Regensburg's history and should be shown visibly and clearly, but also commented on," she said.

"Declared enemies of Christianity"

The new text commentary was written together with Eva Haverkamp-Rott, Professor of Medieval Jewish History and Culture at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich.

The depiction of Jews sucking on the teats of a sow "should arouse disgust and contempt", says the new text.

The sculpture was said to have been "placed across from the Jewish residential area" in the 14th century.

With this propaganda Jews were "declared enemies of Christianity".

For years there was a dispute about the right way to deal with the "Judensau" at Regensburg Cathedral.

A notice board already attached to the cathedral itself caused severe criticism.

A really critical classification is not given.

Spaenle also described the text at the end of 2020 as “in need of improvement”.

48 such representations are known in Europe, for example in Wittenberg, on Cologne Cathedral, on the Cathedral of Brandenburg an der Havel and on the Cathedral of Metz (France).

In Bavaria there are other "Judensau" representations in addition to the one in Regensburg, for example at the Evangelical Church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg or at the gate of Cadolzburg Castle in the Fürth district.

The Jews consider the pig unclean.

In addition to the German version, the text commentary should also be attached to the Regensburg Cathedral in an English version.

The text should "serve as a basis for a possible procedure in other historical places" where "Judensäue" or other anti-Jewish representations can be seen, it said.