The Jews of Stühlingen

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Ralph

December 22, 2016

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 Stühlingen and its surroundings had belonged to the counts of Lupfen since 1251. But in 1582, the last count of Lupfen, Heinrich VI, died without issue.26 Already in 1572 Heinrich had asked Emperor Maximilian II for permission to bequeath the county to the counts of Zollern, his distant relatives. But the emperor disagreed. According to law, heirless fiefdoms reverted to the emperor and could be sold to a new lord for a fortune. Waiting in the wings was Erbmarschall (Imperial or Hereditary Marshall) Konrad zu Pappenheim, a junior scion of an old noble family. On November 12, 1583 Konrad deposited the princely sum of 80,000 gold ducats at the imperial treasury in Vienna to substantiate his claim. But the transaction did not proceed smoothly, and for another twenty years the legal and political wrangling around the succession continued before Pappenheim finally received full title to the county.  He was not a patient man; already in 1590 he took the castle Stühlingen by force and in turn was captured and imprisoned on orders of the emperor a year later. However, all along he acted as de facto ruler of Stühlingen, attempting desperately to recover some of his considerable investment.

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 The existence of a well-established Jewish cemetery in Stühlingen, as mentioned in regard to Isaak’s burial, suggests the presence of a Jewish community in Stühlingen already during the Lupfen rule. According to legend, the cemetery must have been situated on the eastern slope of the Wutach Valley, opposite to the town of Stühlingen. No trace is left today, and searches have been fruitless.27

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 Among the earliest records from the Stühlingen protocol book are several records dealing with the fallout of the uneven contest between “Erbmarschall, Count Konrad von Pappenheim, and Isaak, the Jew of Stühlingen. On May 5, 1604 two witnesses were questioned about some grain Isaak had supposedly loaned to the village of Untermettingen [R1442]. In September of that same year, Isaak’s son Raphael (Vohl) sued that village, submitting the business books of his late father. He was supported by his brother Menachem (Manno), a resident of Klingnau on the Rhine[R1443]. Counter claims were made one day later [R1444]

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0  

26Brandeck, “Geschichte der Stadt,” 45–53.

27Rosenthal, “Heimatgeschichte der badischen Juden,“ 75.