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Bauerbach/Thüringen

Bauerbach is located in the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen in Thuringia, approximately 21 kilometers east of Themar.

The first references to Jewish residents in Bauerbach is a cemetery grave inscription from 1722 in the cemetery. Then, in 1794, Joseph Mühlfelder, whose family will later play a role in the Themar community, moved to Bauerbach from Mühlfeld. The Jewish population climbs steadily in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1851, the Bauerbach population of 261 included 116 Jews in 26 families. The Jewish families were active in trade in livestock, textiles, manufactured goods and Alteisen. The community established a synagogue, a school, a cemetery and a Mikveh.

The „Judenhof“ in Bauerbach. Source: H Nothnagel, Juden in Südthüringen – geschützt und gejagt

Initially, the Jews had to live in a part of town separate from the Christian community; it was called the Judenhof. By 1851, two-thirds of the Jewish community still lived in the Judenhof. But, as with many other towns and villages in Thüringen, the Jewish population started to decline in real numbers at the end of the nineteenth century. Jonas Mühlfelder, for example, the grandson of Joseph Mühlfelder, was one of those who left Bauerbach for a larger community, Themar. By 1898, only 78 Jewish people lived in the town. By 1913, there were only 25 Jewish people residing there. As of 1933, only 13 Jewish people lived in Bauerbach; after 1942, there were none. Themarens born in Bauerbach: Jonas Mühlfelder was born in 1863, during the time when the Jewish community of Bauerbach was at its peak. Mühlfelder married Amalie Frankenberg and lived in Themar in the 1890s and early 1900s. Salomon Müller was born in 1802 in Bauerbach, when there were around 91 Jews in 18 families and a total population of 236 left Bauerbach when its population included Jewish population. He moved first to Marisfeld in the late 1820s or 1830s when the population of 500 included 200 Jews, and subsequently moved to the larger Kleinstadt of Themar in the late 1860s. Sources: Schwerda, Elka, and Hans Nothnagel. „Juden im Schillerort Bauerbach,“ in Juden in Südthüringen – geschützt und gejagt. Bd. 3, pages 69-91. Alemannia-judaica. Bauerbach (VG Salzbrücke, Kreis Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Jüdische Geschichte/Synagoge. Israel Schwierz.Zeugnisse jüdischer Vergangenheit in Thüringen. Eine Dokumentation, pages 64-69.