Living Shum Monuments: The Jewish Heritage of Mainz, Worms and Speyer Germany

By Marques Vickers

"Living ShUM Monuments" is a pictorial edition documenting the most prominent remaining and newly constructed memorials of the region's present day Jewish heritage in central Germany. The text is written in both English and French languages.

Originating from the tenth century, the middle Rhine River cities of Mainz, Worms and Speyer would establish some of the earliest Jewish colonies documented in Central and Eastern Europe. The three communities created a unique cultural cluster that influenced the religion, architecture, scholarship and administrative justice of the era, the Ashkenazi Diaspora.

The ShUM community name was coined from the initial letters of Speyer, Worms and Mainz in Hebrew. During an ancient assembly in 1223, the legal status was affirmed.

Globally Jewish communities and particularly the ShUM have historically endured persecution, dispersal and unfounded blame for historical calamities including the pestilence that decimated Europe during the Middle Ages. They have survived the ravages of mob violence, religious intolerance and grinding ignorance that has pervaded civilization despite eras of educational and artistic enlightenment.

Throughout all, notable ShUM monuments have endured. Most have undergone massive renovations and even recreations for the present living. The historical resilience of the ShUM has been coupled by contemporary innovation. Jewish populations were never numerous within the three cities, but a recent period of exodus from Eastern Europe countries since the 1990s has reversed a previous post-World War II population vacancy. The dissolution of communism opened the portals to previously suppressed religious expression. The recently constructed synagogues in Mainz and Speyer rival the most innovative modern clergical architecture proliferating a progressive energy of growth and expansion.

The cities of Mainz, Worms and Speyer are once again embracing vibrancy in their economic climates, diversity of cultural expression and recognition internationally.
It appears appropriate that the foundations of this renaissance should include one of its important cultural and religious components.

The edition details the background, history and showcases in photographic detail the following historical and cultural treasures:

German Stolpersteines (The Bronze Pavement Stones Recognizing Holocaust Victims)

Worms:
Jewish Quarter, Ancient Synagogue and Mikveh (ritual bath) and the Heiliger (Holy Sands) Cemetery

Mainz:
Light of the Diaspora Synagogue, Synagogue of Weisenau, St. Stephen's Cathedral and Artist Marc Chagall's Blue Windows and the ancient Jewish cemetery.

Speyer:
Jewish Quarter, Mikveh (ritual bath), Ancient Romanesque hall synagogue east wall, Beit Shalom Synagogue and Ancient Jewish Cemetery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marques Vickers
• Release date: Jul 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005345105

Marques Vickers

Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions. He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86. Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com. Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography. His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism. He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.

Book preview

LIVING SHUM MONUMENTS

THE JEWISH HERITAGE OF MAINZ, WORMS AND SPEYER GERMANY

Marques Vickers

Caroline Vickers

MARQUIS PUBLISHING

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASHINGTON

LIVING SHUM MONUMENTS

THE JEWISH HERITAGE OF MAINZ, WORMS AND SPEYER GERMANY

Published By Marques and Caroline Vickers at Smashwords

Copyright 2020-2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface: The ShUM Legacy

Preface: L’Héritage ShUM

Stolpersteines:

Les pavés de mémoire

WORMS

The Ancient Synagogue of Worms

L’ancienne synagogue de Worms

The Worms Holy Sands Cemetery

Le cimetière sacré Juif de Worms

MAINZ

Mainz Synagogue: A Contemporary Icon of Substance, Utility and Style

Synagogue de Mayence

Synagogue of Weisenau

Synagogue de Weisenau

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

l'église Saint-Etienne de Mayence

The Ancient Mainz Jewish Cemetery

L’ancien cimetière Juif de Mayence 

SPEYER

Speyer’s Jewish Legacy

L'héritage juif de Spire 

Speyer’s Jewish Cemetery

Cimetière juif de Spire 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

À PROPOS DES AUTEURS 

SOURCES AND ARCHIVES SOURCED

BOOK/OUVRAGES:

The Old Synagogue in Worms on the Rhine, Published by DKV Art Guides

La Vie Juive à  Speyer, Ponto Speyer 2005

WEBSITES/SITES WEB:

ManuelHerz.com

https://keesvanhage.wordpress.com/

Schumstaedte.de

DW.com

JGuideEurope.org

Chaptzem.Blogspot.com

Keesvanhage.wordpress.com/4-70/

Wikipedia.org

The ShUM Legacy

Originating from the tenth century, the middle Rhine River cities of Mainz, Worms and Speyer would establish some of the earliest Jewish colonies documented in Central and Eastern Europe. The three communities created a unique cultural cluster that influenced the religion, architecture, scholarship and administrative justice of the era, the Ashkenazi Diaspora.

Ironically, it would be a profane derivative from Ashkenazi, the Nazi regime that would attempt to obliterate the legacy and importance of the regional Jewish population. They failed.

The ShUM community name was coined from the initial letters of Speyer, Worms and Mainz in Hebrew. Shin (SH)=Shpira=Speyer, Vay (represented as U)=Warmaisa=Worms and Mem (M)=Magenza=Mainz. During an ancient assembly in 1223, the legal status was affirmed. Unlike the National Socialist Party’s bloodstained agenda, the name has survived and continues to prosper into the present age.

Globally Jewish communities and particularly the ShUM have historically endured persecution, dispersal and unfounded blame for historical calamities including the pestilence that decimated Europe during the Middle Ages. They have survived the ravages of mob violence, religious intolerance and grinding ignorance that has pervaded civilization despite eras of educational and artistic enlightenment.

Throughout all, notable ShUM monuments have endured. Most have undergone massive renovations and even recreations for the present living. The historical resilience of the ShUM has been coupled by contemporary innovation. Jewish populations were never numerous within the three cities, but a recent period of exodus from Eastern Europe countries since the 1990s has reversed a previous post-World War II population vacancy. The dissolution of communism opened the portals to previously suppressed religious expression. The recently constructed synagogues in Mainz and Speyer rival the most innovative modern clergical architecture proliferating a progressive energy of growth and expansion.

History may be revered and passed on through generations, but relevancy is what populates houses of worship and cultural movements. Past injustices may remain unforgivable. History and transitional periods are dynamic processes. The cities of Mainz, Worms and Speyer are once again embracing vibrancy in their economic climates, diversity of cultural expression and recognition internationally.

It appears appropriate that the foundations of this renaissance should include one of its important cultural and religious components.

L’Héritage ShUM

Les villes allemandes de Mayence, Worms et Spire, respectivement peuplées d’environ 210 000, 82 000 et 50 000 habitants, et situées le long de la section du Rhin supérieur, dans le sud du land de Rhénanie-Palatinat, virent s’établir à partir du Xe siècle en leurs murs trois des premières communautés juives documentées en Europe.

Cette diaspora, dite ashkénaze, composée pour grande partie de commerçants et d’usuriers, créa dès le Moyen Âge, outre un tissu économique prospère, un réseau culturel unique influençant la religion, l'érudition, la justice administrative et l’architecture de l’époque. Celui-ci était piloté par un comité, le Wa’ad ShUM, fondé vers 1150 lors d’un synode rabbinique à Troyes, dont les statuts furent confirmés en 1223 et dont la direction fut confié aux communautés de Spire, Worms et Mayence, qui lui donnèrent son nom. En effet, l’acronyme ShUM fut créé à partir des initiales des noms des villes de Spire, Worms et Mayence en hébreu : Shin (Sh) pour Shpira (Spire), Wav (représenté comme un U) pour Warmaisa (Worms) et Mem (M) pour Magenza (Mayence).

Comme la quasi-totalité des communautés juives du monde, les membres de la communauté ShUM, bien que relativement peu nombreux, subirent au cours de l’histoire de nombreuses dispersions, ségrégations, discriminations, persécutions et se virent même souvent reprocher d’être la cause des calamités qui frappant l’Europe, à l’instar de la peste noire qui décimait la population européenne au milieu du XIVe siècle ou de la crise financière de 1929 qui provoqua un fort