Golden Apple

An early nineteenth-century vaulted cellar provides the backdrop for an exhibition on Frankfurt’s Jewish history during this period. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the Jewish struggle for equal rights and for emancipation while upholding Jewish tradition.

In 1809, Joseph Moses Rindskopf acquired a plot of land at the northern end of Judengasse, which had been destroyed in the war against France. He built an imposing stone building to take the place of five houses that had burned down. One of the destroyed buildings carried the name “Goldener Apfel” or “Golden Apple.” Its stones were probably used to build the vaulted cellar, where a keystone bearing the inscription “IMR 1809” commemorates Rindskopf, who came from a long-established Frankfurt family.

J.M. Rindskopf died following the completion of his house. His family later sold it to the bookseller Isaac Kauffmann, who ran a Hebrew bookstore and publishing house here. Kauffmann was a follower of the teachings of the Frankfurt rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch and published his writings.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the house was sold to the spice merchant Jakob Alsbach. Since 2022, Azuko Iimori has been running a Japanese supermarket in the building.

The basement was first used for cultural purposes by the city of Frankfurt as part of the interdisciplinary METAhub project.

The vault itself is a fascinating historical witness. Colleagues from the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum and two stone restorers have examined the vault’s particular features. We marked the spots that aroused our curiosity with questions. In the exhibition, we’ve been able to provide some of the answers: Which is the oldest wall here? And what are the locked shafts for?

Virtual reconstructions carried out by architects Meitar Tewel and Marc Grellert bring the cellar in Judengasse to life. Meitar Tewel designed a model of the only section of the street existing today that still follows the historic Judengasse’s original course. A photo film takes visitors through Jewish institutions and homes and brings together private spaces with memorials, museums, and places in Frankfurt where all memory of Jewish life has been erased. It also reconstructs the three different synagogues that have been built on the same site since 1462. Marc Grellert’s film offers a digital reconstruction of the main synagogue from 1860. With an immersive VR panorama specially developed by LIGNA and Architectura Virtualis, you can explore the Judengasse as it was in 1861 both visually and acoustically.

After Frankfurt was occupied by French revolutionary troops in 1796, the Jewish community was no longer restricted to living in the ghetto. The fight for equal rights and participation in politics, however, still lay ahead of them. Journalist Ludwig Börne played a key role in this struggle. In 1848, the “Fundamental Rights of the German People” were declared law in the Paulskirche. It wasn’t until 1864, however, that full legal equality came into force. Jochanan Shelliem’s interviews show just how essential Ludwig Börne’s ideals and the constitutional rights of 1848 continue to be for our current constitution. In our interactive section, specially developed democracy recipes offer tips for strengthening our democracy today.