Settlement of Jews in Kaisersesch

How and when jews first settled in Kaisersesch is not documented. But we supppose, that after the award of freedom of the city and the right to hold markets in the year 1321 by king Ludwig the Bavarian the town became interesting for jewish traders, who were not allowed to learn a handicraft by the severe guildprescriptions. This shows, that it is possible, that jews have already lived in Kaisersesch in the Middle Ages, but they have probably been driven away from this region by the arbitrariness of the mostly catholic rulers.

In the life of jews years of persecution changed with years of settledness. In 1418 the archbishop "Otto von Trier" drove the jews away from his region, because of the rise of banks they were no longer needed. Against that in the 16. century a full resettlement of jews took place. On the 02.05.1547 the elector gave 34 jewish families the allowness to settle down in the region of Trier. In 1618 an arrangement was released for the jews, which said, that the jews were not allowed to life here without the explicit grant of the elector. Because up to that time they were not allowed to do their retailtrade in the large cities outside of closed living areas, many jews moved to the country, where they were allowed to do it.

Since the year 1808 there was an enumeration of all jews of todays district Cochem-Zell, in which 319 Jews lived, but there are no declarations, that jews lived in Kaisersesch at that time. The first numbers descend from the year 1856, in which 13 jews were supposed to have lived in Kaisersesch. That the jews settled here at that time is a little bit remarkable, because the mood in the new gained prussian rhineprovinces was rather hostile to jews, because the emancipationedict from 1812 was not put into force. Possibly the in 1852 introduced retail- and cattlemarket had been initiated by one or more jewish traders, because Sylvian Siegler, a jew who has emigrated to the USA at the age of 12 with his father in 1937, thinks, that three generations of jews had lived in Kaisersesch before his father. With that I am sure, that the beginnings of the jewish community of the 19. and 20. century have to be found between the years 1808 to 1856.