The Rhine Gate 1937

My name is Hans David Blum. During my last visit to Breisach, I went to the town archives, meeting with the town’s archivist Uwe Fahrer. He showed me this photo: the Rhine Gate seen from the eastern side while a fire brigade is working to put out a fire – a high wall and a ditch. You can see a barred window on the ground floor. The photo dates from the time when the Rhine Gate was also used as a prison. 

Only weeks after the Nazis came to power when I was 13 years old, all the Jews who commuted to work in Freiburg were locked up behind these bars.

It's the impressive western façade of the building that attracts more attention today. It was built in 1675 during the French occupation and fortification of the city under Louis XIV. The Rhine Gate was built according to plans by the French fortress builder Vauban. It replaced the gate from the Middle Ages, which had provided access to the town from the west across the Rhine. 

Around 1640 – a good 200 years after the expulsion of the Jews in the 15th century – a new Jewish community was founded in Breisach. It consisted of Jews who were in the service of the incoming French army– most were cattle traders and grain merchants.