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ShtetLinks:
FLOSS
In German spelled as
Floß
View the location of FLOSS
(49°44' 12°17')
via
Mapquest
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Modern day Floß
is still a Market Town a few miles from the Czechoslovakia border in the
Oberpfalz region of Northern Bavaria. Click on
"Jüdische
Geschichte in Floß" on the Floss homepage for more pictures and
information in German about the synagogue restoration and the Jewish community.
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is greatly appreciated.
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Map used by permission from Town of Floss brochure
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Some Background Information About Floss
"Four Jewish families were permitted to settle in Floss in 1684, the brothers
Henoch
and
Hirsch Meier
as well as
Eisig
and
Nathan Feifas
and their families. All of the Jews who came from Floss thereafter were
descended from the original four, either directly or by marriage. The laws
limited the number of Jews permitted to live in Floss; sometimes these laws
were loosely applied and other times people were forced to leave Floss because
the numbers were too high.
The Commission of the Greater Main River Area requested all the Jews from Floss
to appear for a meeting on April 26, 1814 where Jews were required to take last
names. Those who had family names already kept them. (e.g.
Bloch, Bomeisler,
and
Boscowitz
). The others took on German family names. Everybody had to register their
names. Before then, each man was known by his name and the name of his
father.
Sixty-four families were entered into the records and sixty-four remained the
number allowed which could not be exceeded. "
[translated and condensed from
Renate Höpfinger, Die Judengemeinde von Floss, 1684-1942
]
Because of these restrictions, many Flossers emigrated in the mid 1800s, often
to the USA, otherwise to nearby Jewish communities such as Fürth,
Nürnberg, and Regensburg. Also it was German law that Jews could not
marry until the age of 28.
There are no longer any Jews in Floss. However the synagogue has been restored
and is used once a year by a neighboring Jewish Community.
View of Floss photographed by Ralf Rossmeissl in 2004
Bibliography
-
Höpfinger, Renate.
-
Die Judengemeinde von Floss, 1684-1942 : die Geschichte einer judischen
Landgemeinde in Bayern
. Kallmunz Opf. : M. Lassleben, 1993.
-
Series title: Regensburger historische Forschungen ; Bd. 14. UCB Main
DS135.G4 F544 1993
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English title:
The Jewish community of Floss, 1684-1942: the history of a rural Jewish
community in Bavaria
(not available in English)
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Mormon Family History microfilm: Europe 1194062,
-
About 20 years of records (births 1813 to 1833) and some marriages and other
records are item 3 on this film, available from any of the LDS family history
centers.
Documents
Picture Gallery
Some Family names from the Judenburg of Floss are:
ANSBACHER
BAMBERGER
BLOCH
BOMEISLER
BOSKOWITZ
DOPPELMAYER
DOPPELMEIER
EISEMANN
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EISMANN
ENGELMANN
ENGLAENDER
FLOSSER
GOLDMANN
GRUENBAUM
HAMBURGER
HOENIG
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HOENIGSBERGER
KOENIGSHOFER
LANGERMANN
LEVI
PLOCH
REICHENBERGER
SCHWARZ
STEINHARDT
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WEISS
WELTZER
WIENER
WILMERSDOERFER
(became WILLIAMS
and WILMERS)
WITTELSHOFFER
|
Searchable Databases
Compiled by
Kitty Munson Cooper
Updated by KMC on 18 NOV 2006
Copyright © 2002 Kitty Munson Cooper
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