The UNESCO World Heritage Site
The World Heritage Convention for the protection of the world’s cultural and natural heritage has been in existence since 1972. It was prompted by the construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt: at that time, the rock-cut temples of Abu Simbel were in danger of disappearing forever beneath the reservoir. In 1960, UNESCO launched an unprecedented international campaign to save the temples. This raised global awareness of the need to preserve sites of outstanding universal value. The concept of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was born.
The first twelve sites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978. There are now more than 1,100 World Heritage sites in 167 countries, including the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Various criteria define the value of World Heritage sites. Among other things, they must be intact and have retained their original form.
On 27 July 2021, UNESCO added the Jewish heritage of the SchUM sites in Speyer, Worms and Mainz to the World Heritage List.
What exactly is SchUM?
In the 11th century, the three Jewish communities in Speyer, Worms and Mainz formed a unique confederation of communities that continues to shape the Jewish world to this day. The term ‘SchUM’ is an acronym formed from the initial letters of the three medieval Hebrew city names:
Speyer | Schpira | ש | Shin [Sch]
Worms | Warmaisa | I | Vav [U]
Mainz | Magenza | מ | Mem [M]
For several hundred years, people of the Jewish faith found a home in the Diaspora within these three communities on the Rhine. In this context, the area was also referred to as ‘Jerusalem on the Rhine’. SchUM was the cradle of Ashkenazi Judaism.
In the SchUM communities, synagogue architecture was reimagined. Monumental ritual baths were built here for the first time. A new burial culture developed here, and a tradition of scholarship was cultivated that continues to shape the community to this day. The medieval SchUM sites, with their synagogues, mikva’ot and cemeteries, are early and authentic testimonies to a living tradition of Ashkenazi Judaism.
The three SchUM congregations in Speyer, Worms and Mainz
