Vorstellung des französischen Bombardements der Stadt Frankfurt a/M (Depiction of the French Bombardment of the City of Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main: Berndt, [1796]. Original artwork. Loose leaf. Print (9 x 12"). Original hand-colored copper plate engraving by Johann Cristoph Berndt with extensive caption. Rare document with only one record at the Hessian State Archives, Marburg. Image in fine condition with minimal sunning from removed frame around engraving.
Contemporary engraving depicting the destruction of Frankfurt's Judengasse (Jew's Alley) during the French bombardment of July 13th and 14th, 1796, showing French artillery and troops in the foreground and the burning city in the distance. The engraved caption specifically records "die Judengasse in welcher 137 Häuser abbrannten" (the Jew's Alley in which 137 houses burned down), making the devastation of the Jewish quarter a central subject of the print. A similar scene of the bombardment was rendered by Christian Georg Schütz the Elder (Meisterdrucke, UK).
Since 1462 Frankfurt Jews had been compelled to reside in the Judengasse. The destruction of much of the quarter in 1796 displaced large number of Jewish residents and made the old system of compulsory segregation increasingly impossible to maintain. In the aftermath Jewish families were able to establish themselves outside the ghetto, therefore the bombardment came to mark the effective beginning of the end of more than three centuries of enforced Jewish residence in the Judengasse.
This striking contemporary visual record by Berndt depicts the bombardment that helped to bring Frankfurt's historic Jewish ghetto system to end. Since 1462 Frankfurt's Jews had been compelled to reside in the Judengasse. The destruction of much of the quarter in 1796 displaced large numbers of Jewish residents making the old system of compulsory segregation increasingly difficult to maintain. In the aftermath, Jewish families were able to establish themselves outside the ghetto, and the bombardment came to mark the effective beginning of the end of more than three centuries of segregation of the Jews. Fine condition. Item #56152
Price: $2,750.00