In the footsteps of the Jews of Sopron

Read the information about the street and the settlement of the Jewish community in Sopron.

This street was originally called Zsidó utca (Jewish Street), which can be explained the fact that Jewish families settled here around 1300; they built the first houses in the street and established the Old Synagogue in the early 14th century. The exact date of the Jews' settlement in Sopron is not known. There was a significant Jewish community in what is now Hungary long before the Hungarian conquest. The founder of the state, St Stephen, who converted Christianity and made it the dominant religion, granted equal rights to all peoples and religions, including the Jews. As the cities grew stronger, they attracted Jews in growing numbers, and the so-called historical communities were established, including the one in Sopron. Jews moving to Sopron came mainly from Austrian regions and Bavaria. Two main streets had emerged in the city by the 13th century: the Kolostor (Cloister) Street, and where we are now, the Zsidó (Jewish) Street, later to be named to Új Street. The street was alternately called Zsidó Street despite the fact that it was not only inhabited by Jews in the Middle Ages. Jewish traders settled here and built two synagogues in the street.

This was one of the streets in 1944, where the Sopron ghetto was designated. A plaque on the wall of the house at 28 Új Street commemorates this.


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