''Schutzjude'' (, "protected Jew") was a status for German Jews granted by the imperial, princely or royal courts. Within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, except some eastern territories gained by the Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries (e.g.

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

), Jews usually had the status of

Servi camerae regis Servi camerae regis (Latin: "servants of the royal chamber", German language, German: ''Kammerknechtschaft'') was the status of the Jews in Christian Europe in the Middle Ages. The ruler had the right to tax them for the benefit of his treasury (''c ...

. This status included imperial protection and the levying of special taxes on the Jews for the Empire's treasury (Latin: camera regis). But the emperors, always short of money, alienated – by sale or pledge – their privilege to levy extra taxes on Jews, not all at once, but territory by territory to different creditors and purchasers. Thus Jews lost their – not always reliable – imperial protection. Many territories that gained supremacy over the Jews living within their boundaries subsequently expelled them. After the general expulsions of the Jews from a given territory often only single Jews – if any at all – would be granted the personal privilege to reside within the territory. This personal privilege, documented by a ''Schutzbrief'' (writ of protection), a ''Geleitsbrief'' (writ of escort), or (in Brandenburg) a ''Patent'', was sometimes inheritable by only one son (in rare instances, by all sons), and was sometimes uninheritable. Jews holding such a privilege were thus called ''Schutzjuden'', ''vergeleitete Juden'', or ''Patentjuden'', as opposed to Jews who had no right of residence, who were known as ''unvergeleitete Juden''. The latter were not allowed to marry, and might spend their life unmarried as a member of the household of a privileged relative or employer. For example, in October 1763 King Frederick II of Brandenburg-Prussia granted

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...

, until then under protection by being employed by a ''Patentjude'', a personal, uninheritable privilege, which assured his right to undisturbed residence in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. His wife and children, who had no independent permission to reside, lost their status of family member of a ''Patentjude'' when Mendelssohn died in 1786. They were later granted multi-son inheritable ''Patents''. In 1810 Stein's

Prussian reforms The Prussian Reform Movement was a series of constitutional, administrative, social and economic reforms early in nineteenth-century Prussia. They are sometimes known as the Stein-Hardenberg Reforms, for Karl Freiherr vom Stein and Karl August ...

introduced a freely inheritable Prussian citizenship for all subjects of the king, doing away with the different prior legal status of the Estates, such as the Nobility, the

burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bu ...

s of the chartered cities, the unfree peasants, the officialdom at the court, the Patent Jews, and the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

References

External links

Certificate Confirming Payment of Protection Money (Schutzgeld) for a Jewish Resident (1833)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schutzjude Jewish German history Disabilities (Jewish) in Europe Court Jews

See also

References

External links