Friedberger Mikveh: An underground monument

It was a special and probably appropriate tribute to a building that has few equals.

As a contribution to the anniversary "1700 years of Jewish life in Germany", the Leo Baeck Institute New York/Berlin presented an object from the long Jewish history in Germany every week on its website with the virtual "Shared History Project".

The Friedberg Mikveh was one of the first testimonies of Jewish life and Jewish culture in Germany to be viewed there.

It was the only selected mikvah to represent the monumental Jewish ritual baths of the Middle Ages that have been preserved in German-speaking countries.

Wolfram Ahlers

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for central Hesse and the Wetterau.

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The complex, which leads to the pool in seven flights of stairs, lined with columns and capitals, down to a depth of 25 meters, is a technical and architectural masterpiece of earlier master builders.

Now the focus is once again on the Jewish baths in Friedberg, not on the internet, but in more detail.

Because the current issue of the "Wetterauer Geschichtsblatt" published by the Friedberg History Association is dedicated to the mikvah alone on around 200 pages.

A good half dozen essays deal with historical, architectural aspects of the building and its builders, with art-historical considerations such as the restoration and conservation of the historical building fabric.

The volume edited by Johannes Kögler, head of the Wetterau Museum and board member of the historical association, bears the title "Living Water" in reference to the commandments of ritual purification in the immersion bath, which has to take place in a collection of spring or ground water.

Economic prosperity and self-confident community life

The contributions are based on a symposium that took place in 2010 to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the Friedberg Mikveh.

It turned out that the stone-carved inscription in the staircase of the building with the year 1260, which was used for the anniversary, apparently did not come from the craftsmen of the time.

In any case, after his research, Kögler came to the conclusion that this date was only engraved much later, probably in the course of extensive restorations a good hundred years ago.

Nevertheless, the mikvah was probably built around the middle of the 13th century.

One of the reasons for this is that the sandstone found in the Jewish baths was also used in the town church, which was being built at the same time.

Presumably the same master builders were even active there as on the town church.

The fact that the community could afford a ritual bath of such dimensions, which was necessary because a groundwater-bearing layer had only been found deep down, has to do with the status of the Friedberg Jews in the middle of two largely independent territories, the Reichstadt and the independent castle district to do.

This created economic prosperity and self-confident community life.

Hans-Helmut Hoos, who has distinguished himself with numerous publications on the history of the Jews in Wetterau, also addresses this aspect in his article on the Friedberg Jews and their community in the Middle Ages.

After a long period of use for religious purposes, this changed at the beginning of the 19th century.

The mikvah was misused.

Later, the municipality recognized the value of this building and bought it back.

The change in awareness ultimately resulted in comprehensive refurbishment and renovation;

This is what the essay by Katja Augustin, the former head of the Friedberg City Archives, is about.

The Friedberg-born architect, building historian and monument conservator Ernst Götz was one of the few to stand on the bedrock at the end of the 1950s and had the opportunity to re-measure the part where the water normally stands.

In his essay he presents the insights he gained from this;

his sketches are included in the volume.

Other articles deal with the particular challenges involved in preserving historical civil engineering works and the corresponding redevelopment concepts.

Last but not least, an extensive picture section with older and newer photos, drawings and sketches invites you to get an impression of this special monument for yourself.

Volume 67 of the Wetterau History Sheets has been published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Bindernagel Friedberg and costs 25 euros.