The Zenners of Market Square, the oldest Jewish Family in Lichtenfels Known since 1697 successively by the names Jakob-Schola-Pfeuffer and Zenner Anyone who is interested in the history of Lichtenfels cannot ignore the influence of the local Jewish community. They were already here in the 13th century, but were expelled from the town, first of all in 1298 and then for the second time in 1499. However, after a break of over 150 years, two Jewish men, Isais and Jakob, both from Redwitz on the Rodach, returned here on 14th September and 4th October 1667 bearing letters of safe-conduct from the Bishop. Eleven years later, in 1678, the widow Ester of Mistelfeld followed them, also armed with a letter of safe-conduct from the Bishop. By 1685, the number of Jewish families had grown to four. This small community already ran a synagogue and a Jewish school. The latter was mostly attended by Jewish children from Mistelfeld, Schney und Burgberg. Many townspeople, fearing competition in business and trade, did not approve of the new settlers. They tried to drive them away again by sending petitions and complaining to the Bishop; for example in 1687 the town refused to let Jewish children from Mistelfeld attend the Jewish school here, so that the school would not be viable. However, the Bishop’s protection was sufficiently effective to ensure a permanent home for the fragile community. It was not until 255 years later, on September 9th 1942, that the centuries-old history of the Jewish community here was brought to a harsh and dreadful end. Hugo Brüll and his wife and the three unmarried sisters Jeanette, Lina and Maria Kronacher were sent to the concentration camp in Theresienstadt. They all met a cruel death there. The memorial in the former cemetery on the moor to the east of the town bears their names as a lasting reminder and warning. The widely held belief in the wanderlust of the Jews is disproved by the families who have lived here in the last 300 years. Some of the families here can trace back their ancestors just as far as the old Christian families. One only needs to think of the extensive Brüll family whose members made their living from the beginning of the 18th century onwards doing all imaginable types of manual work and whose last member, the Hugo Brüll mentioned above, spent his life simply and modestly as a hard-working farmer in Seubelsdorf. Another family, the Schola-Zenners, who will be touched on just briefly here, can even clearly prove residence in Lichtenfels from 1667 to 1918. In all probability, the founding father of the family can be said to be the merchant Jakob, who came to the town in October 1667 from Redwitz on the Rodach and paid the town no less than 6 Talers as settlement money. By 1711 at the latest the family had acquired the name of Schola. The practice of handing on the letter of safe conduct from father to son took place on 8th January 1733 for the businessman Isac Schola of Lichtenfels, under Prince Bishop Friedrich Karl. The City Archive of Bamberg still has the document which was issued ( No 68/398). This Isac had two sons, Jakob and Samuel. Both paid the Bishop’s Treasurer their protection money every year, which amounted to 11 Gulden 4 Pounds and 6 Pfennigs per family. In 1750 both Jakob Schola and his wife died at almost the same time. Both were buried in Burgkunstadt. In 1773 their descendants Pfeufer and David Schola appear in the records, although from now on the first name Pfeufer began to be used as a surname. Shortly after 1800 the family finally gave up the names of Schola and Pfeufer and all the individual family members henceforth called themselves Zenner. In an entry made in 1816, the Lichtenfels Town record mentions this fact expressly on page 100. David Isac Schola and his son Isaac Schola are both now entered as Zenner. However around 1900 the Zenner family were still popularly being referred to by the double-barrelled name Pfeufer-Zenner. At least from 1807 onwards the Zenners were mainly drapers and small shopkeepers. Isaac Pfeufer-Zenner, who was born in Lichtenfels in 1776, bought from the State the former Forestry Office building which stands on the market square ( now H.O.Schulze’s bookshop) for the price of 3100 Gulden in 1827. As well as drapery, he also sold ironmongery. His son, Jsaac Pfeufer Zenner who was born on 1st February 1827 in Lichtenfels, carried on the business. He died in 1886 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery here. The last representatives of the family to live here were the brothers Josef and Friedrich Zenner, both businessmen. They moved to Nuremberg on 1st October 1918, having disposed of their property in Lichtenfels. We know from post-war compensation documents that descendants of the family still live in distant lands. H.M.

Published 1962 in the local history journal „ Land am Obermain in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart“ ( Country of the Upper Main, past and present)