ShUM-site Speyer - UNESCO World Heritage

Speyer's World Heritage Site, the Judenhof, is located in Kleine Pfafffengasse, in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral. The Judenhof was once the center of the second Jewish settlement in Speyer and a place of religious and intellectual exchange. The SchUM cities were home to scholars who were known far beyond the city limits. Speyer gained a special reputation as a place of study in the 12th century and a group of intellectuals went down in history as the Wise Men of Speyer.

Today, the Judenhof houses the remains of the medieval synagogue consecrated in 1104 with an adjoining women's school and a ritual bath. The Museum SchPIRA (website German only) has been set up in the neighboring house.  

In the 10th and 11th centuries, Jews settled on the Rhine for the first time since the end of antiquity, thus establishing a history of synagogue construction in Germany spanning over a thousand years. The synagogue in Speyer, consecrated in 1104, was a Romanesque hall building with a width of around 10.5 meters and a length of 17.5 meters. The remains of the synagogue are now considered to be the oldest upright Jewish cult building of the Middle Ages.
Various building elements at the Jewish places of worship can be found in a similar form at Speyer Cathedral and suggest the involvement of craftsmen from the cathedral's construction workshop. The decisive factor for the settlement of the Jews was their activity in trade, which is why they were predominantly restricted to this occupational field. They were only able to work as craftsmen in exceptional cases.
We know very little about the interior of the synagogue. From a note in rabbinical literature, we learn that it had a floor covered with stone slabs and glazed windows. Traces of the window frames have been preserved on the two windows in the west wall.

In Germany, in addition to the men's synagogues, women's synagogues were also built. In the ShUM towns, rooms began to be added to the actual synagogue in the 13th century. In some cases, such as in Worms and Speyer, these were connected to the men's synagogue via sound openings so that women could take part in the proceedings.

Almost at the same time as the synagogue, the community built the ritual bath, the so-called mikvah. It is located not far from the medieval synagogue and is the oldest facility of its kind north of the Alps.

The mikvah was used for ritual purification. It was mainly used by women after childbirth or menstruation and before marriage. Occasionally, men also went to the mikvah.

A barrel-vaulted staircase leads via an anteroom to the square bathing shaft with groin vault, which is ten meters below ground. Here, worshippers performed the ritual cleansing prescribed by Mosaic law by immersing themselves in “living”, i.e. naturally flowing, water. Steps led down to the actual bathing shaft, whose water level fell or rose with the groundwater. Quicksand at the bottom ensured that the water regenerated. Although the water was very cold, a slight current prevented it from freezing over during the cold winter months.

The mikvah is decorated with rich Romanesque ornaments, which were painted in color in the Middle Ages. A two-part window zone opens the view into the bathing shaft.
Today, the facility is covered with a glass construction to protect it.

The yeshiva can no longer be seen today, but its foundations are still preserved and hidden in the ground. The yeshiva is a college where students devote themselves primarily to the study of Talmud and Torah.

In Speyer, the educational institution was built in the first half of the 14th century as an extension to the east wall of the synagogue courtyard. As such, the yeshiva illustrates the value placed on religious learning and teaching in Judaism. Its shape can still be seen today on the surrounding wall of the courtyard and on the east wall of the synagogue.