The Siebengemeinden ( he, שֶבַע קְהִלּוֹת; en, Seven Communities, hu, Hét hitközség) were seven Jewish communities located in

Kismarton Eisenstadt (; hu, Kismarton; hr, Željezni grad; ; sl, Železno, Austro-Bavarian: ''Eisnstod'') is a city in Austria, the state capital of Burgenland. It had a recorded population on 29 April 2021 of 15,074. In the Habsburg Empire's Kingdom ...

(today Eisenstadt, Austria) and its surrounding area. The groups are known as ''Sheva Kehillot'' in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Kobersdorf-ehemalige-Synagoge-nah-(041006)

History

The communities were established after 1670, when

Paul I, 1st Prince Esterházy of Galántha Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

accepted the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

that had been expelled from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

by Leopold I. The Siebengemeinden (now in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

, which formerly belonged to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

) were composed of communities in Kismarton, Nagymarton (Mattersburg, old German name: Mattersdorf), Kabold (Kobersdorf), Lakompak (Lackenbach), Boldogasszony (Frauenkirchen), Köpcsény (Kittsee), and Sopronkeresztúr (Deutschkreutz, Hebrew: Tzeilem, Yiddish: Zelem). All together there numbered around 3,000 Jews, who were predominantly of

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...

persuasion. The most pious lived in Nagymarton and Sopronkeresztúr, where there were important

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy a ...

s. Another community developed in Nagymarton under the leadership of the great Rabbi Moses Sofer (1763–1839). All seven communities fell victim to the persecution of the Jews under the government of the National Socialists.

People

Samson Wertheimer Samson Wertheimer (17 January 1658 – 6 August 1724) was chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia, and rabbi of Eisenstadt. He was also an Austrian financier, court Jew and ''Shtadlan'' to Austrian Emperor Leopold I. Family Wertheimer was born i ...

(16581724), chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia, and rabbi of Kismarton * Moses Sofer, rabbi of Nagymarton, 1798 - 1806N. Vielmetti: Schreiber (Sofer, Hatam Sofer) Moses. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Band 11. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Wien 1999, , S. 197 f. * Joseph Joachim (1831 - 1907), violinist, conductor, composer from Köpcsény

Data from the 1910 Census

* Alsókismartonhegy (Unterberg, now part of Eisenstadt): 276 Jews (79.3% of the town or village) * Lakompak (Lackenbach): 464 Jews (27.8%) * Kabold (Kobersdorf): 256 Jews (20.2%) * Sopronkeresztúr (Deutschkreutz): 621 Jews (18.6%) * Boldogasszony (Frauenkirchen): 412 Jews (15.1%) * Nagymarton (Mattersdorf, now Mattersburg): 511 Jews (13.5%) * Kismarton (Eisenstadt): 168 Jews (5.5%) * Felsőkismartonhegy (Oberberg, now part of Eisenstadt): 58 Jews (4.4%) * Köpcsény (Kittsee): 92 Jews (2.9%)

References

External links

SHEBA' ḲEHILLOT (Jewish Encyclopedia)
Burgenland Jewish Hungarian history Jewish Austrian history Jewish communities in Hungary Jewish communities in Austria Holocaust locations in Hungary Oberlander Jews {{Austria-hist-stub

History

People

Data from the 1910 Census

See also

References

Further reading

External links