Kaiserpfalz Research Center and GDKE aim to decipher the architectural history of the Jewish quarter in Worms
Press release dated October 15, 2025:
The Kaiserpfalz Research Center in Ingelheim and the Rhineland-Palatinate General Directorate for Cultural Heritage (GDKE) have signed a cooperation agreement on the “Evaluation of archaeological investigations in the Jewish cult district of Worms 2021–2024.” The joint project, which aims to provide deeper insights into the architectural and cultural history of the SchUM World Heritage Site in Worms, continues the successful cooperation between the state’s senior monument authority and the city of Ingelheim. As part of the cooperation, the Kaiserpfalz Research Center will be responsible for the scientific evaluation of all medieval findings and discoveries. The state is financing the project, which is expected to be completed in March 2027.
Focus on SchUM World Heritage
Following the recognition of the SchUM sites in Speyer, Worms, and Mainz as part of the UNESCO World Heritage in 2021, various measures were initiated at all three locations. On the one hand, these serve to promote tourism, but on the other hand, they also serve to further research the architectural and archaeological monuments, which are among the most important testimonies to Ashkenazi Judaism. In the Jewish quarter of Worms, one of the oldest in Europe, extensive archaeological investigations were also initiated through the planning and preparation of necessary renovation measures on the historic ensemble.
The excavations carried out between 2021 and 2024 uncovered an extensive archive of soil, the abundance of which was hardly to be expected. In the area of the mikveh, a Jewish ritual bath from the 12th century, the levelled rubble was first removed, which was caused by the destruction in 1938 and 1942 in the course of the anti-Semitic Nazi terror. However, beneath this, the excavation team from the Kaiserpfalz Research Centre, which carried out the excavations in close cooperation with the State Archaeology Department, discovered previously unknown walls, walkways, a stove and production waste from a bone carving workshop. Some of the findings and accompanying material date back to the origins of the mikveh, which was built in the 1180s.
‘The location, size and depth of the excavation areas were determined by the structural design. The task of archaeology was to accompany every intervention so that no losses to the “ground archive” would occur,’ explains acting state archaeologist Dr Ulrich Himmelmann. During the investigation, the exposed components were protected by a temporary roof, and the excavation has since been backfilled. Ulrich Himmelmann: ‘The permanent protection of the heritage in the ground will also be a high priority in the design concept for the synagogue garden.’
The investigations also led to new findings at the synagogue, which is largely a reconstruction of the medieval building erected between 1957 and 1961. Here, small excavation cuts were made at specific points to investigate the cause of cracks in the foundation.
Many new discoveries expected
Based on the surviving building fabric and the large number of datable excavation findings, scientists from GDKE and the Kaiserpfalz Research Centre expect to make numerous exciting discoveries. The aim of the evaluation project that has now been agreed is to gain a better understanding of the chronology of the monuments and the constant changes in the buildings in the synagogue district of Worms. The documentation of the results will serve as a basis for reconstructing the architectural history of the high medieval Jewish cult district in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the ShUM cities.
