The discovery of the remains of a mikvah - a ritual Jewish immersion bath - in Chemnitz in 2022 caused a sensation. Now this historical find and its significance are being made visible with an exhibition in the immediate vicinity. The remains are now part of a new residential and commercial building and are not open to the public.
The find puzzled the experts. This is because Jews were not allowed to settle in this country at the time they were found, as the former director of the Chemnitz Schloßberg Museum, Thomas Schuler, explains. He initiated the presentation. The mikvah shows that there were nevertheless traces of Jewish life in this country at this time. It was probably set up around 1690 and filled in when the house was rebuilt in 1791, explains Schuler. The owners of the house were Christian carters. But why then the Jewish immersion bath?
