Württemberg, German Empire Jewish Records

Jewish History in Württemberg
Jews were not allowed to live and work permanently in Württemberg from 1498 to 1805. In 1828, for the fírst time, a Jewish law was passed. Accordingly two Jewish centers arose in Ludwigsburg and in Stuttgart. However, the rights were revoked in 1848. Jews were finally fully recognized in 1861 and received equal rights in 1864.

Online Records
Jewish records at Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg are fully digitized and no longer available for searching in the archive. The collection (Bestand J386) includes birth, marriage, and death registers, family books, and other lists, mostly from the 19th Century. This collection, part of the Gatermann films, complements the records available at the Family History Library and elsewhere for this area.


 * 18th-20th century Jewish civil status registers 18th-20th century at Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg - images; finding aid with links to images, includes Jewish communities in Württemberg, Baden and Hohenzollern, images of the 1943-1945 Gaterman films. This finding aid also lists records available at the Central Office for Genealogy in Leipzig, and at the State archive in Freiburg, but digital images are only available for the records kept in Stuttgart (Bestand J386). Microfilm copies of the few records kept in Leipzig are available through the Family History center system. Thus, both sets of records are now accessible to the family historian.

Navigating the site
The alphabetical listing by town name is available by clicking on Strukturansicht.
 * Select a letter to see a list of villages beginning with that letter.
 * Descriptions that include links to digital images include the phrase " Digitalisate einsehen" in red. Click on that phrase to bring up thumbnails of the first ten images and a navigation bar.
 * "1 bis 10" with simple forward and back arrows allows you to page forward and back within this set. The arrows with a vertical line take you to the first or last image of the entire book.
 * "Bitte wählen" brings up the list of available pages, so you can click on a page number. The system then loads that page plus the next nine images.
 * "Bilder pro Seite" allows you to select how many images to display at a time.

Jewish History Synagogue Links

 * Links to historical information by former and existing synagogue

Cemetery Records

 * Jewish Cemeteries in Baden-Württemberg

Cemeteries Tombstones as Records for Jewish Research
The Family History Library has a collection of several books which have been published regarding the tombstones of Jewish persons who died in Württemberg. These books contain the following information that is useful to people of Jewish descendancy in these villages:


 * Photo of tombstone
 * Hebrew transcriptions of stones
 * German translations of Hebrew
 * Name/maiden names
 * Birth and death dates
 * Family members
 * Poem on epitaph
 * Sometimes birthplaces
 * Dating from the 1700's in some cases
 * Index of names

It was very interesting to note that some of the older tombstones show much more detail than some of the newer ones, which might only have a name and their dates of birth and death.

Because some of these stones date beck to the 1700's, they can be of major help for researchers. The Family History Library's collection of these books can be accessed through the FamilySearch Catalog searching first by the name of the village/town and then under the topic of Jewish Records.

Jews in Württemberg
The Rabbi concerned himself with the spiritual, social and cultural aspects of the Jewish community members. Many had to build bridges between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. An excellent book regarding the Jews in Jebenhausen and Göppingen is available at the Family History Library. It is entitled Juden in Jebenhausen und Göppingen. FHL call number 943.47/G2 F2t. This book is a good example of some of the Jewish records which have been published in book form to preserve history as well as the memories of those who have passed on. This book contains the following information:


 * History of the communities
 * Memorable historical occasions
 * Plotmaps of the Jewish cemetery
 * Tombstone transcriptions with alpha index
 * Jewish societies
 * Information about Schutzjuden (protected Jews), including all family members
 * Births, Marriages, deaths from synagogue register
 * World War I military fatalies
 * Lists of community managers, Rabbis, tax collectors, and Jewish community caretakers
 * Community industries and production
 * Synagogue history, floor plans
 * List of endowment contributers, with dates
 * Photos, community and familial
 * Village deportation lists, names, birthdates, camp, dates of deportations
 * Population statistics Often these books can be most helpful in gaining good understandings of our ancestors' lives, and struggles. They should not be overlooked when looking for sources of Jewish family research.

Holocaust Memorials

 * 1939-1945 Jewish Holocaust Memorials and Jewish Residents of Germany 1939-1945 at MyHeritage - index