Centuries-old mikveh unearthed in former East Germany

Archaeologists discover a centuries-old mikveh underneath a vaulted cellar in the former East Germany.

The ritual bath in the town of Schmalkalden is located near “Judengasse,” or “Jews’ Lane,” where a 17th-century synagogue stood until it was destroyed in the Kristallnacht pogrom exactly 77 years ago on Monday, the day the discovery was announced.

The State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology reports that the mikveh, which was found recently beneath a half-timbered building in a zone slated for urban housing construction, may have been built in the late 16th or early 17th century, when the local Jewish population peaked.

Experts have already determined that it had not been used since the 18th century at the latest.

The first records of Jews in Schmalkalden date back to the 14th century.

— JTA