In addition to personal testimonies or official documents, material traces provide clues to the past. These can be smaller objects as well as buildings (or their structural remains), squares or streets. In Jewish history (and the presence), a number of specifically Jewish places play a role; first and foremost, these include those from the religious sphere, such as synagogues, kloyz, or mikvahs. Collegiate buildings and schools refer to the central sphere of care and education, old people's homes and hospitals to community support structures. While cemeteries, for example, are needed at all times, sports facilities or hachsharot exemplify how much the creation or (re)use of places is interwoven with the respective socio-political framework conditions.
This first focus on “Jewish Places” is intended both as an invitation to search for traces and as a stimulus to reflection on what distinguishes a Jewish place - is it its use, its architecture, or its attribution from the outside?