History of The Jews in Laupheim - The Jewish School

The Jewish School

Traditionally, the education of the children of a Jewish family rested with the father. However, the absence of many fathers due to their frequently being away from home in their capacity as traders, made it necessary to employ travelling teachers who received food and accommodation in return for their services. These teachers, called chedarim, received a contract of six months, usually terminating at either Pesach or Sukkot. In 1808, the number of Jewish children amounted to 39 which indicates that many children were sent to either Christian schools or to Jewish schools outside Laupheim. The first Jewish school was founded only in 1823, when the Jewish community rented a ballroom in a public house to be used as a classroom and hired a teacher, Simon Tannenbaum from Mergentheim. He acted as head teacher until his retirement in 1860. As his assistant Abraham Sänger from Buttenhausen was taken on and worked as teacher until his death in 1856. His descendants run the public house Zum Ochsen until after 1933. In 1830, the Jewish community bought a house opposite the synagogue which was refurbished to house the rabbi's office and the school. This building functioned as school until 1868 when a new Jewish school was built in the vicinity of the Judenberg in the Radgasse. This building was demolished in 1969. Due to the lack of Jewish teachers, for several years Roman Catholic teachers were asked to help out. In 1874, 162 Jewish pupils attended the Jewish school. In the following decades, the number of Jewish pupils would decrease continuously, so that, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Jewish school taught only 65 pupils. However, the Jewish school existed until well into the 1930s and was only closed in 1939.