Horkheim Castle

Horkheim Castle is a moated castle, already existing in the 14th century, in what is now the Horkheim district of Heilbronn, which served as the residence and synagogue for the local Jewish community from the 17th to the 19th century.

Horkheim Castle was first mentioned in 1344. The castle, which, like the neighboring St. George's Church, is located on the western edge of the village, was owned by Eberhard II of Württemberg and was divided as a fief among several minor nobles. In 1389, Eberhard sold the castle to the Heilbronn Commandery of the Teutonic Order, which in turn sold it to the Heilbronn patrician family Lemlin. The Lemlins placed the castle under the suzerainty of the Electoral Palatinate in 1461, while the village of Horkheim, however, came to Württemberg in 1504. The castle, which was expanded several times in the 16th century, included the surrounding vineyards and farm buildings in the castle garden, which extended eastward in the area of Schlossgasse to the wine press, but no other lands, so that provisions largely had to come from outside.

In the early 17th century, the castle came into the possession of the Seibold family, then to other feudal tenants who, against the reluctance of Württemberg, increasingly took in Jews in the castle from the 17th century onwards, after individual Jews had already lived in the village in 1595. The protected Jews of the castle lordship established a synagogue in the residential tower of the castle, first mentioned in 1725, which was used until the 19th century. In 1749, the names of 17 Jewish families (around 90 people) living in the castle area were already recorded. Most Jews lived in the castle complex free of protection money, as they had built new homes there or renovated dilapidated castle buildings. The Horkheim Jews had their cemetery in Sontheim. Schlossgasse is said to have once been called Judengasse (Jews' Alley).

Around 1778, eight mostly younger Jewish families moved from Horkheim to the Oberschloss in nearby Talheim and founded the Jewish community of Talheim there, after decades of disputes had arisen in Horkheim since 1748 with the feudal tenant Johann Heinrich Buhl, who also resided in the castle.

In the 19th century, the castle came into the possession of Württemberg and then into private ownership. The eastern part of the castle moat was filled in, and Schlossgasse was built up with residential buildings. From 1811, the Horkheim Jews also settled in the village; in 1828, a total of 54 Jews are said to have lived in Horkheim Castle and village, and in 1858 there were 72 Jewish inhabitants. In 1859, a synagogue was built at Schlossgasse 5. After 1860, the Jewish community largely moved to neighboring Heilbronn, and the synagogue in Schlossgasse was converted into a residential building.