Calendar

Life according to different calendars

Religion plays a significant role in how people understand and measure time. The gravestones at Judensand are dated according to the Jewish calendar. This calendar counts the years from the ‘Creation of the World’, as recounted in the Torah. According to Jewish tradition, we are now in the 6th millennium after the Creation.

In Christianity, the system of counting years ‘after the birth of Christ’ (Latin: anno domini) became established in the 7th century. The Gregorian calendar, which is used worldwide today, is based on this system of reckoning time. The Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar: Each month begins with the new moon. As the twelve months are about eleven days shorter than a solar year, a ‘leap month’ is regularly inserted. The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) therefore always falls in autumn.

Fun Facts

The year 5790 in the Jewish calendar largely corresponds to the year 2030.
To convert a year from the Jewish calendar to our calendar, you need to subtract 3760. Example: 5790 – 3760 = 2030. Please note: the Jewish year begins in autumn – so these months still belong to the previous year.
In Islam, years are counted according to the Hijra, the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, which took place in 622 AD. Can you think of any other calendars?