The Shum Communities: Intersections of Material and Immaterial Heritage

In 2014 the ‘Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany’ agreed on a new tentative list of nominations to be submitted to the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. The list includes three nominations for Jewish monuments and sites: the Jewish Cemetery of Altona; the ShUM cities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz; and the Old Synagogue and Miqweh of Erfurt. The move reflects a growing awareness of the relevance of German Jewish history in a global perspective.

Working groups of scholars following different lines of research and documentation were established in connection with all three nomination bids. My paper will address some of the questions related to the ShUM communities. The monuments to be listed include the remains of the medieval miqwa’ot and synagogues in Speyer and Worms as well as the Jewish cemeteries of Worms and Mainz.

While it is obvious that the ShUM communities hold a prominent, even leading position in Jewish legal, religious and intellectual history of early Ashkenaz (tenth to thirteenth centuries), the list of world heritage sites is focused on the material heritage to be preserved and protected. This paper will look at the physical locations where material and immaterial Jewish heritage can be linked. I will argue that, in fact, the monuments of the ShUM communities have served as ‘lieux de mémoire’ ever since the medieval period.