Merger to form the Triple Congregation - Additional Info Landmarks of Jewish History

Ashkenazi congregations were founded in Altona, Wandsbek, Hamburg, and Harburg in the seventeenth century. In 1671, the Ashkenazi congregations of Altona und Wandsbek merged with the Hamburg Ashkenazi congregation to form the so-called Triple Congregation. The Portuguese congregations had already merged in 1652 to form the unified Bet Israel Congregation. This was preceded by efforts on the part of the newly formed Hamburg congregation to separate from Altona.

A separate cemetery in Ottensen was intended to ensure the congregation’s autonomy. The Chief Rabbi of Frankfurt mediated in the dispute between the two congregations. The Hamburg congregation was recognized as an independent congregation, but was placed under the authority of the Altona rabbinate. Altona was the largest congregation and now became the center of the Triple Congregation. Unlike Hamburg, a rabbinical court was allowed to sit in Altona. The Altona rabbinate enjoyed a good reputation throughout Europe.

Liberties in Altona

Altona had been under Danish administration since 1640. In 1641, the Danish king granted an extended general privilege and allowed the Jewish congregation autonomous jurisdiction. In 1664, Altona was granted city rights and, with Danish privilege, a chief rabbinate for all Ashkenazi Jews in Schleswig-Holstein was established in Altona. The Altona Congregation developed into a center of Jewish scholarship.

Restrictions in Hamburg

The legal situation for Ashkenazi Jews in Hamburg was worse than in Altona. The Imperial Decree for Jews of 1710 granted the right of residence only in return for payment of a corporate tax and prohibited the construction of synagogues and the acquisition of real estate. In 1730, anti-Jewish riots threatened the main residential area in Hamburg’s Neustadt district for days. In 1768 and 1773, the Hamburg Senate restricted the residential area of Jews to five streets in the historic downtown and 14 streets in the new town.

Early Synagogues

Until the mid-seventeenth century, religious services were held in private prayer rooms, often in secret. In Hamburg, the authorities also prohibited the construction of synagogues. The earliest synagogues were therefore created by converting residential buildings: in 1642 in Altona and in 1654 in Hamburg. The first independent synagogue building was constructed in 1680–84 in Altona on Kleine Papagoyenstrasse, in Hamburg on Elbstraße in the 1780s. In 1771, a Portuguese synagogue was built on Bäckerstrasse in Altona.

Regulation of community membership when women marry into another community (translation)

Document, 1716, reproduction

Hamburg State Archives, reference number 522-1_92b_003

The statutes of the Altona community were adopted as the common rules for the three communities. These regulated, for example, self-government and dress codes for all Jews in Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbek. The decrees and regulations were mostly written in Hebrew.

Glikl bas Jehuda Leib,

Merchant, 1645/6-1724

The memoirs of Glikl of Hameln, document, 18th century, reproduction

Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library, Frankfurt am Main,

call number Ms. hebr. oct. 2, fol. 1r

After the death of her husband, the merchant Glikl (1645/6–1724) successfully continued the business. She is one of the most important Jewish authors of the early modern period. Her memoirs provide insight into Jewish life at that time. Glikl reports on business and family matters, but also on historical events.

Wandsbek Synagogue

Photography, not dated

Photo archives of the Institute for the History of German Jews (IGdJ)

Jews first settled in the Wandsbek estate in 1612. In 1637, they were granted the right to practice their religion freely. In 1840, a synagogue was dedicated in a backyard on what is today Königsreihe. In 1939, the building was sold under duress and served as a warehouse until its demolition in 1975.

Synagogue of the Altona High German Israelite Congregation

Ludwig Schwarz, pen and ink drawing, 1917, reproduction

SHMH-Altona Museum, Inv. No. 1937-424

The first synagogue of the Ashkenazi Jews in Altona was dedicated in 1682, but destroyed in a city fire in 1711. In 1715, a new building was constructed on the foundations of the old synagogue. The place of worship was damaged in November 1938 and destroyed by bombs in 1943. In 1940, the Congregation was expropriated.

Map Showing the Cities of Hamburg, Altona, and the Village of Wandsbek in 1667

Johannes Mejer, pen and ink drawing, 1667, reproduction

SHMH-Altona Museum, Inv. No. AB10669b

In 1667, Hamburg was a free imperial city with some 60,000 residents. Altona, numbering about 3,000 inhabitants, had been granted city rights in 1664. Wandsbek was a privately owned estate village belonging to a Hamburg citizen. The Danish King Christian IV had allowed Jews there to form congregations.

The Jewish Cemetery in Ottensen

Johann Jacob Gensler, lithograph, 1836, reproduction

SHMH Museum of Hamburg History, Inv. No. EB 1930,233

In 1663, the Ashkenazi Congregation of Hamburg established a cemetery in the village of Ottensen, which at that time belonged to the Pinneberg District. The burial ground on what is now Ottenser Hauptstrasse was used until its expropriation in 1939. In 1995, following protests, a shopping center was opened on the site.

Model of the Elbstrasse Synagogue, built in 1788

Wood, 1991 version

SHMH Museum of Hamburg History, Inv. No. 1991,44c

In 1788, the Altona Congregation built Hamburg’s first synagogue on Elbstrasse (today intersection of Neanderstrasse and Steinweg). Pursuant to the 1710 Imperial Decree for Jews, the building had no direct access to and was not visible from the street. After the Triple Congregation was disbanded, the Hamburg Congregation used the place of worship until 1906. The building was then demolished.