Medieval Mikveh
Station 13
Archaeologists discovered the medieval mikveh in 2007. The Jewish ritual bath dates from the 13th century and is first mentioned in documentary evidence from 1248/49. A mikveh is a Jewish immersion bath for ritual purification. In addition to the synagogue and the cemetery, it is among the most important facilities of a Jewish community.
In the Middle Ages, the area surrounding the mikveh was densely populated. Jews and Christians lived next door to each other. A lane, now overbuilt, was the shortest route from the mikveh to the Old Synagogue, the first place of worship for the Jewish community. In 1349 this community was wiped out in a pogrom. Jews who settled in Erfurt after 1354 used this mikveh again while the Old Synagogue had already been converted into a warehouse. In 1453 the town council expelled all Jews. Jewish use of the mikveh ended by then at the latest. The water basin was filled in and the mikveh was used as a cellar.
The medieval mikveh is part of the network ‘Jewish life Erfurt’. It can be visited as part of a guided tour.
