Letter of Protection and Safe Conduct for the Jew Hertz Meyer,
AUCTION 83 |
Thursday, June 20th,
2019 at 1:00pm
Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Holy Land Maps, Ceremonial Objects, Fine & Graphic Art
Lot 120
(GERMANY)
Letter of Protection and Safe Conduct for the Jew Hertz Meyer,
(Bückeburg, principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, today Lower Saxony): 1730/31
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
PRICE REALIZED $1,000
This Letter of Protection for one Hertz Meyer was issued for the duration of half a year, upon payment of a fee to the Duke of the tiny principality of Schaumburg-Lippe located in Northern Germany. The ensuing letter written by ducal civil servants, leaves the renewal of this Letter of Protection to the discretion of the Duke.
It is estimated that some 200 Jews lived in the principality of Schaumburg-Lippe during the 17th- and 18th centuries. About a dozen Jewish families lived in Petershagen and associated villages around 1730. The principality of Schaumburg-Lippe was notable for its dynasty of Court Jews founded by Isaak Heine, who received a Letter of Protection in 1682 and who was an ancestor of the poet Heinrich Heine.
See Hans-Heinrich Hasselmeier, Die Stellung der Juden in Schaumburg-Lippe von 1648 bis zur Emanzipation (Bückeburg, 1967).