Migration in the 18th century
Thanks to the liberal religious policy of the ruling counts, many Huguenots and Jews were able to settle in Offenbach in the 18th century, contributing significantly to both the cultural and economic development of Offenbach through their religion, traditions and crafts.
The Huguenots in Offenbach
The French Protestants who professed the teachings of John Calvin were persecuted by the Catholic government of France, and the term "Huguenots" was coined from around 1560.
It is estimated that around 500,000 Huguenots were expelled from France. The religious refugees were accepted in some areas of Germany, including the county of Isenburg in 1698/99. In 1699, the French Reformed congregation was founded in Offenbach.
The first known parish list from this year contains the names of 46 families. The first Offenbach Huguenots had lost everything, as the collections in England and the Netherlands, which were intended to provide funds to build houses, had been used for other purposes.
Most of the families in this first wave of settlers were farmers and left the town to settle in the count's forest: Neu-Isenburg was founded (1699). In 1703, more Huguenots arrived in Offenbach, who were skilled craftsmen and therefore more financially strong: Wool manufacturers, hosiery weavers, silk weavers, linen weavers, hat makers, trimmings makers, wig makers, button makers, tanners, foundrymen, gold knitters, gold workers, dyers and others.
Count Johann Philipp von Isenburg granted the French Reformed community extensive privileges on May 28, 1705 (published in print in 1710). These were primarily aimed at encouraging the new inhabitants to become industrious and, as a result, the Huguenots did indeed play a major role in Offenbach's subsequent economic development. The second wave of settlers ensured the continued existence of the community.
In 1717, the foundation stone was laid for their own church, which was consecrated on May 1, 1718: the French Reformed Church was built in the lower Herrnstraße. In the 18th century, Offenbach's textile industry in particular was a Huguenot profession. The end of the 18th century and ultimately the disappearance of markets during the Napoleonic Wars meant the end of this Huguenot trade.
Jewish life in Offenbach
The first evidence of Jewish merchants present in Offenbach can be found in the 1560s in the vicinity of the Isenburg castle building. During the Frankfurt "Fettmilch Uprising", violent guild riots, resulting anti-Semitic looting and expulsions, as well as during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Jews increasingly stayed in Offenbach. They lived - secured by payments - under the protection of the sovereign. However, their right of residence and economic activity were limited.
In 1707/08, the Jews were granted statutes under Count Johann Philipp von Isenburg, representative of a liberal and mercantilist-oriented religious and immigration policy. This collection of restrictions and grants promoted the establishment of a Jewish community in Offenbach despite numerous restrictions imposed by the time.
The establishment of a cemetery and the building of a synagogue were permitted. This first synagogue burned down in 1721, and its new building on the same site in Judengasse (Große Marktstraße) was used over the long period from 1729 to 1916.
In the late 18th century, either in 1786 or 1788, the Jewish heretic Jakob Frank (1726-1791) from Korolowka in Podolia (Ukraine) settled in Offenbach with several hundred followers. As the alleged reincarnation of the Messiah's soul, the reborn sect founder Sabbatai Zwi, he claimed to be the Messiah in 1648. After Frank's death, the sect was able to survive in Offenbach under his daughter Eva until 1816.
Only the Age of Enlightenment was able to grant the necessary tolerance to characters such as Jakob Frank. The field for this tolerance had been prepared by the writings of the philosophers. Among the religiously influenced thinkers of the 18th century, Moses Mendelssohn stands out, whose works interpreted the Jewish religion in the terms of contemporary philosophy, not least by formulating the demand for tolerance of world religions.
The following generation declared the implementation of such demands to be their daily business. In 1803, for example, the Offenbach Jew Wolf Breidenbach (1751 - 1829), as "court factor" of Prince Carl, pushed through the abolition of the so-called "Leibzoll", a discriminatory property tax for Jews, in the Isenburg territory.
Breidenbach's call for the abolition of this duty, which was followed by many German states, provided an important impetus for the Jewish emancipation movement.
