Juden Leib-Mauth.

(GERMANY)

Brünn (Brno), Moravia (Czech Republic)

1748

Printed in German, with manuscript additions.

Pass issued to a Jew for admittance to the town of Brünn. In the pre-Emancipation era, freedom of movement of Jews was highly restricted. This is a receipt indicating that the leibmauth, or body tax, of 17 kreuzer had been paid, so permitting the Jewish bearer to conduct his business or pay a visit in a zone which was otherwise forbidden. Widespread in Central and Western Europe since the 14th century, the leibmauth was used as both a financial and police measure, so controlling Jewish movement. The first leibmauth to be abolished was by Joseph II in Austria in 1782. Others were removed at the end of the 18th- and beginning of the 19th- century.