Jebenhausen

JEBENHAUSEN, village in Wuerttemberg, Germany. In 1777 nine Jewish families received a charter to settle and build a separate colony near the farming village. There was no restriction to the number of Jewish families, and the community, which enjoyed far-reaching autonomy, grew from 31 members in 1778 to 233 in 1804. Most families were notoriously poor at that time, seeking a livelihood from peddling. By the mid-19^th century many had established themselves as merchants and factory owners, developing a flourishing textile and corset industry. There were 550 Jews living in Jebenhausen in 1845, 534 in 1854, 392 in 1862, and 151 in 1869. Between 1798 and 1870, more than 300 members of the community immigrated to America, mostly for lack of civil rights and economic prospects. After the revolution of 1848, when the larger cities in Wuerttemberg no longer refused Jews the right of residence, many left the village to settle in near-by Goeppingen, *Esslingen, or *Stuttgart. Jebenhausen was the seat of a rabbinate from 1778 to 1874, when it was transferred to Goeppingen. Only nine Jews lived in the village in 1899. The synagogue, built in 1804, was closed in 1899 and sold for demolition, and the community was formally dissolved. The members of the only remaining Jewish family were deported to *Theresienstadt in 1942 but survived. A Jewish museum was opened in Jebenhausen in 1992.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.