Jewish History
With a brief interruption in the mid-15th century, Landau had a sizable Jewish community from the Middle Ages until the Nazi era, at one point the largest in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as one of its most prosperous (many Jews were wine merchants). This accounts for 'Landau' and 'Landauer' being a common Ashkenazi Jewish family name. A prayer room is known to have existed since the 16th century: the first actual synagogue was built in 1648, and rebuilt in 1691 after a fire. The Great Synagogue (350 sq. m., 16 m. high) was consecrated in 1884: it was burned down during the Kristallnacht in 1938, and only its charred remains can now be seen. The historic Frank-Loeb house is another relic of the Jewish presence in Landau: its proprietor in the late 19th Century was Zacharias Frank, great-grandfather of Anne Frank.
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