Portuguese Jewish community in Hamburg
From about 1590, a Portuguese Jewish community lived in Hamburg. Their congregation, the qehilla, lasted until it merged with the Ashkenazi community in July 1939. The first Sephardic settlers were Portuguese Marranos who had fled Portugal, and some had even come from Spain hoping for refuge there. At first they often hid their faith in their new home.
In 1603 the city council complained about the growing number of Portuguese Jews. The senate asked Lutheran universities for their opinions, and after negotiations the Sephardim were tolerated as strangers but not allowed to practice their religion publicly, in exchange for protection payments. This reflect the city’s pattern toward other refugees: non-Lutherans were often restricted, while Lutherans were quickly absorbed. In 1612 the senate granted foreign merchants, including the Portuguese, equal rights to export, import and wholesale trade, though crafts remained closed to foreigners. By one register they numbered about 125 adults, plus servants and children. From 1611 they also had a cemetery in Altona, used until 1871.
In 1617 they won the right to choose four sworn brokers for Hamburg’s stock exchange, later increased to fifteen. As the Sephardim established themselves, Ashkenazi Jews began to enter the city around 1610, initially as workers in Sephardic households. The Portuguese traders helped Hamburg’s commerce, opening trade with Spain and Portugal and taking part in founding the Bank of Hamburg in 1619. Notable members included several physicians, merchants and scholars who played important roles in city life.
By 1627 the Portuguese Jews had a small synagogue, Talmud Torah, in the house of Elijah Aboab Cardoso. The emperor complained about the synagogue, but the senate continued to protect the community. The first known Ḥacham (rabbi) was Isaac Athias of Venice; later Abraham Ḥayyim de Fonseca served as chief religious leader. A second congregation formed, Neveh Shalom, and in 1652 the three Sephardic congregations united as the Holy Community of the Sephardim of Beit Israel, with a large synagogue. David Cohen de Lara became their chief rabbi, followed by other rabbis in the community. In 1656 Isaac Jesurun was brought from Venice to Hamburg as chief rabbi to support religious leadership.
In the 1660s Hamburg’s Sephardim were the city’s main recognized Jewish community, while Ashkenazi Jews were still newcomers. The Sephardim showed interest in Shabbethai Zebi, the false Messiah, and staged celebrations in his honor, which later ended in disappointment. By 1697 the community faced heavy tax demands, and many of the rich Sephardim left Hamburg, some helping to establish the Portuguese community in Altona. Internal quarrels reduced the community’s influence, and in 1710 an imperial commission laid down regulations for both the Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities. These rules shaped the status of Jews in Hamburg for the next centuries. The Portuguese community began to feel second-class compared with German Jews, and its influence gradually declined. Still, it produced notable scholars and leaders. The beit din and mealtime tax arrangements shifted to the Ashkenazi community.
In the early 19th century Hamburg fell under French influence when it became part of the French Empire in 1810, and Jews faced discrimination under Napoleon’s laws. In 1814 Hamburg regained its independence, and in 1815 the old legal framework for Jews was restored, though full equality would take longer. The main Sephardic synagogue on Alter Wall burned in the great city fire of 1842. From 1855 to 1935 the Sephardim used a smaller synagogue at Markusstrasse 36, keeping their traditional rites, though there was no longer a formal Ḥacham. The community won equal rights in 1849, under the laws adopted by the German states. Judah Cassuto served as the last spiritual leader for many years (ḥazzan from 1827 to 1893). By 1905 the Portuguese community in Hamburg numbered about 400 people.
In nearby Altona, the Sephardim had settled earlier; they formed Beit Yacob ha-Katan and Neveh Shalom, gaining equality in 1863. By 1887 only a few members remained. By the Nazi era, Hamburg’s Sephardic community was the last of its kind in Germany. In 1935 they moved their synagogue to Innocentiastr. 37, and the old building was left to the Ashkenazi community. In 1939 the Nazis merged all Jewish congregations into a single community under state control. Deportations of Jews from Hamburg began in 1941, and about 7,800 Hamburg Jews were murdered during the Shoah. By late 1942–1943 the Jewish community in Hamburg had been dissolved as an independent body, and the remaining members were deported or absorbed into other organizations.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 04:20 (CET).