Topic: Gothic goldsmith's work as evidence of the Jewish community of Erfurt
Speaker: Dr. Maria Stürzebecher, UNESCO Representative of the Cultural Directorate of Erfurt
Time: Friday, 18.03.2022, 3:00 p.m.
Place: TU Ilmenau,Faradaybuilding, Faraday lecture hall, Weimarer Str. 32
Admission: 5 Euro
Pre-registration is mandatory: www.tu-ilmenau.de/buergercampus
In 1998, during an excavation in Erfurt's old town, an extensive treasure find was made. Buried under the wall of a cellar entrance lay silverware and jewelry, silver coins and ingots from the late 13th and first half of the 14th century. This dating suggests that the findings were buried at the time of the pogrom of March 21, 1349. That a Jewish family was the owner of the treasure is suggested by the location of the site in the middle of the former Jewish quarter and also parts of the treasure inventory, especially a Jewish wedding ring. The last verifiable owner of the property where the treasure was found almost 650 years later is the Jewish money dealer Kalman von Wiehe. He demonstrably did not survive the pogrom of 1349.
The wave of persecutions of Jews, which ran northward from southern Germany in connection with the outbreak of the black plague, also reached Erfurt in 1349. On the pretext that the Jews had poisoned the wells, the Jewish quarter around the synagogue was attacked and burned down on the day of the Erfurt pogrom. The entire Jewish community perished - with 400 members and important scholars one of the most important of its time.
In her lecture as part of the TU Ilmenau Citizens' Campus , Dr. Maria Stürzebecher, UNESCO representative of the Erfurt Cultural Directorate, will shed light on the content and composition of the Erfurt Treasure, classify it in terms of art history, and show how it can be used as a historical source on the history of the Erfurt Jewish community in the Middle Ages.
Contact:
Dr. Uwe Geishendorf
Central Institute for Education
+49 3677 69-4675
buergercampus@tu-ilmenau.de
