Sprache | Language | בחירת שפה
The social ascent of the Jews, beginning in the final third of the 19th century, was accompanied by a shift towards a more bourgeois lifestyle. This process unfolded over two generations and involved adopting a middle-class lifestyle, with high educational ideals, aspirations of economic freedom, and participating in political decision-making. It was also a manifestation of the desire to emulate the town‘s leading social classes and, as far as possible, integrate into them. With the introduction of the freedom of establishment in 1863, Jews were allowed to buy villas and houses, and it was primarily through these affluent living conditions that their newly adopted bourgeois lifestyle could be reflected.
In 1875, for example, the commercial councillor Adolph Simon acquired the villa at Ketschendorfer Straße 2, which had been built in 1835 on the orders of a legation councillor. Abraham Friedmann, the Jewish general manager of the Großmann meat factory, succeeded him as owner in 1919. He lived there with his family of four and had some alterations made to the house, including the addition of a one-story annex with a three-part balcony.
A rumour that Friedmann had funded left-wing counter-demonstrators during the “Third German Day” in Coburg, a major event organised by right-wing forces, made him an enemy of the Nazi Party in 1922. This led to a massive confrontation with Coburg’s Nazi Party leader, Franz Schwede. The conflict escalated in 1929 when, at Friedmann’s instigation, Schwede lost his job at the municipal works. After Hitler came to power, the Nazi Party took its revenge. In March 1933, SA members broke into Friedmann's house, abducted and assaulted him. He fled Coburg shortly afterwards. The Großmann company also dismissed him from his position, leaving him without an income. He was unable to pay off the mortgage on his house, which resulted in the villa being auctioned off in 1935. This process, known as “Aryanization”, also caused all other Jews to lose their property by 1941 if they had not already been forced to sell it. Abraham Friedmann passed away in Paris in 1938.
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Jewish entrepreneurs like the Ehrlich brothers shaped industry with hat and basket goods. In 1938, they were forced out — Sally Ehrlich was later murdered.
About the Path of remembrance
The “Jewish Life in Coburg” path of remembrance commemorates Coburg's Jewish community in 14 stations. The stations cover the period from the integration of Jews into Coburg society in the mid-19th century to their extermination after the Nazis seized power.
Jewish residents of Coburg were part of the city community for many decades. Under National Socialist rule, the Jewish community and its members in Coburg were wiped out. They had to flee or were murdered. It is our responsibility to keep the memory of their work and suffering alive in the city of Coburg.
The city council of Coburg therefore decided in 2023 to commemorate Jewish life in Coburg with a path of remembrance. The path of remembrance was officially inaugurated on July 31, 2025.