Category: Norderney

Since 1820, Jewish bathers have been recorded on Norderney. Their increasing number led to the first merchants and cooks opening shops on the island or offering kosher food during the bathing season. In 1845, the butcher Abraham von der Wall moved to the island and opened a Jewish restaurant. For Jewish bathing guests, the synagogue […]

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the November pogrom, a commemorative plaque was placed in the “House of the Island,” which bears the following dedication:  In memory of the Jewish citizens of the city of Norderney,   who died a violent death or were expelled by National Socialist terror.  To the living as a […]

During the pogrom of November 1938, seven Jewish residents of the island were taken from their homes by SA men and detained for a day, being “displayed” in a public square. In a Jewish store that had been closed since 1936, the windows were smashed and the shop furnishings demolished; the warehouse was confiscated and […]

Excerpt from a letter from the Norderney municipal council to the district president in Aurich, dated September 23, 1933: „… The attitude towards the Jews has caused Norderney tremendous damage. Thousands of German guests who used to come here for spa treatments have stayed away from the island because of the unbearable number of Jews. […]

To get rid of the “stigma” of being a “Jewish bathing resort,” after the Nazi takeover, the local authorities made targeted attempts—primarily through the press—to keep Jews away from the spa; this was already largely successful in 1934/1935.  Prior to 1933, “anti-Semitism at seaside resorts” was propagated primarily by spa and bathing guests, who influenced […]

From 1885 to 1914, between twenty-two and thirty-five Jews lived on the island of Norderney (0.5– 1.1 % of the population); in 1933, there were twenty-eight Jewish residents and, in 1935, only nine. The number of Jewish workers, salaried employees, and shopkeepers who stayed in Norderney only during the bathing season was higher. In 1923, […]

Norderney also had several famous Jewish bathing guests, including the painter Felix Nussbaum (1904–1944), who immortalized his Memories of Norderney in an oil painting from 1929, as well as in an ink drawing from 1932. Both depict the “Villa Nordsee,” a boarding house built in 1896.  In 1901, a young man spent his summer vacation […]

In 1910, the first children’s home opened at Benekestrasse 44; run until 1933 by the Zion Loge Hanover, today the Thomas Morus Specialist Clinic – Caritas.  Since 1910, there was also a children’s recreation home of the Zion Lodge I.O.B.B. (Independent Order of B’nai B’rith). Even before the First World War, Norderney was considered an […]

The often hostile mood toward Jewish spa guests is also documented in a letter from Theodor Fontane, which he sent from the “Jewish island” of Norderney in 1881. The extent to which resentment and ill will against Jews could be mobilized here is clearly demonstrated by the writer’s example; he thus wrote to his wife […]

The Jewish community of Norderney was not an independent synagogue community, but rather a branch community from Norden. It did, however, have its own synagogue, which was used primarily by Jewish bathing guests staying here. In connection with the business opportunities of a bathing resort, Jewish families also settled on the island from the mid-nineteenth […]

Around 1850, Abraham von der Wall, a butcher from Norden, settled in Norderney and opened a kosher butcher’s shop and restaurant. He was followed by other Jewish butchers and restaurant owners, as well as numerous merchants and hoteliers.  Even before the First World War, Norderney was considered an affluent “Jewish bathing resort,” while anti-Semitism emanated […]