page_title: Frankfurter Judengasse
section_title: The Ghetto in the 19th and early 20th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Frankfurter Judengasse / The Ghetto in the 19th and early 20th centuries
context_page_description: The Frankfurter Judengasse was the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt and one of the earliest ghettos in Germany. It existed from 1462 until 1811 and was home to Germany's largest Jewish community in early modern times.
  At the end of the 19th century, most of the buildings in the Judengasse were demolished. The area suffered major destruction during World War II and reconstruction left no visible signs of the ghetto in today's townscape of Frankfurt.
  Post-war usage of the area included a car park, a petrol station and a wholesale flower market. The decision to build an administrative complex triggered a public discussion as to what should be done with the archaeological remains uncovered during the excavation in 1977. The foundations of 19 buildings were found and five of these can be seen at the "Museum Judengasse" which was incorporated into the new building.
context_section_description: Following the end of the Confederation of the Rhine and reestablishment of the Free City of Frankfurt in 1816, the Senate agreed upon a series of articles to the Constitution. Acknowledging the desires of the Christian majority, the rights of the Jews were again curtailed. However, the requirement to live in the Ghetto was not renewed. In 1864 Frankfurt became the second German city, following the Grand Duchy of Baden (1862), to remove all restrictions on citizens' rights and to grant civic equality to Jews.
  Due to the crowded and unsanitary conditions on the Judengasse most Jews had left the former ghetto during the 19th century and settled in the neighboring suburb, "Ostend". After the Jews had moved out of the Judengasse, the poor of Frankfurt moved in. Although the picturesque streetscape attracted tourists and painters, the city wanted to redevelop the urban area. So, in 1874 the desolate buildings on the west side of the street were razed. Then in 1884 nearly all the houses on the east side of the street were also demolished. The few remaining buildings included the Rothschild family home at Number 148, then used as a museum. Mayer Amschel Rothschild's widow, Gutele Rothschild (born Schnaper), lived in this house even after her five sons were elevated to nobility in 1817.
  By 1854 the Jewish community had torn down the old synagogue (built in 1711) to build a new synagogue in 1859 to 1860. The new synagogue would become the spiritual center of Reform Judaism in Frankfurt until it was destroyed during the Kristallnacht under the Nazis. Following the reconstruction, Judengasse was renamed after the most famous resident Ludwig Börne as Börnestraße and the old Judenmarkt (German: Jews' Market) was renamed Börneplatz (German: Boerne Platz). The Orthodox Jews lived on Börneplatz and had their own Synagogue, the Börneplatz Synagogue. The Synagogue was built in 1882 and also destroyed in 1938 during the Kristallnacht.
  Following the rise to power of the Nazis in 1933 Börnestraße was renamed Großer Wollgraben and Börneplatz became Dominikanerplatz after the Dominican Monastery on the west side. After the Nazis had removed nearly all of Frankfurt's Jews, the former Judengasse was totally destroyed during the bombing of Frankfurt during WWII.
caption: The Börneplatz Synagogue, c. 1890.
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