Ueberlingen

UEBERLINGEN, town in Baden, Germany. Although the oldest gravestones discovered in Ueberlingen date from 1275–76, a Jewish community with a synagogue and cemetery was in existence in 1226. In 1240 the bishop of Constance forbade the setting up of a private mint in Ueberlingen either by a Jew or a Christian. A Jewish witness to an agreement appears in a source dated 1253. Most Jews made their living through *moneylending: in 1289 a Jewess, Guta of Ueberlingen, lent a considerable sum of money to Bishop Frederick of Montfort to permit him to participate in a Church Council in Wuerzburg. The Jew Samuel lent money in 1290 to a minister of high position and to the bishop of Constance; even King Louis IV, the Bavarian, was a debtor of Ueberlingen Jews. A tax list of 1241 indicates that the Jewish population was one of the smallest in Germany at the time, but by the beginning of the 14^th century the Jewish population had grown considerably. A Judenstrasse is also noted during this period. A Rabbi Menlin of Ueberlingen is mentioned by Jacob b. Moses *Moellin (MaHaRil, 1365–1427). In 1332 an accusation was made that Jews had murdered a Christian child. A threatening mob surrounded the Jews who had gathered in the synagogue and set the structure afire, about 300 Jews perished as a result. The remaining Jews continued to live in the city, and two years later when King Louis IV, the Bavarian, visited the city he imposed a fine on those who had perpetrated the massacre. More Jewish lives were claimed by the *Black Death persecutions of 1349, after which the city confiscated the synagogue, cemetery, and houses of the victims. Jewish gravestones were used to build a cathedral. Jewish settlement was renewed, however, in 1378. In 1429 a *blood libel in Ravensburg brought about the arrest of all the Jews in Ueberlingen: 12 Jews were burned in 1430, and 11 saved themselves by accepting baptism. Jewish settlement came to an end in 1431 and was not renewed until 1862. The modern community remained extremely small; in 1895 there were only five Jewish families in the town and the community combined with that of Constance. All five families recorded as living in Ueberlingen in 1938 emigrated to England and the U.S.

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