After the fire of the first monastery dating from 589, its reconstruction was undertaken in 724 under the direction of the abbot Maur, who gave it its name “Mauri monasterium”, the monastery of Mauri. The inhabitants are called Maurimonasterians in reference to this name. Located on the Romanesque Road of Alsace, the country of Marmoutier welcomes you in its cultural buildings, the abbey and its archaeological crypt, the SIlbermann organs, the museum of the heritage and the Alsatian Judaism, its craftsmen, its natural and technical heritage. Discovery packages are also available by the day.
Marmoutier is one of the oldest and most important Jewish communities in Alsace: the Jewish presence is attested in writing as early as 1300. At its peak, in 1846, Marmoutier had 497 Jews (out of 1783 inhabitants). As early as 1755, Marmoutier was the seat of a rabbinate (the rabbi was appointed by the abbot of Marmoutier, lord of the Marche de Marmoutier). The rabbinate was abolished in 1910 (the last rabbi, Isaac Lévy, having been appointed in Phalsbourg in 1904). The Museum of Marmoutier reserves an important place to the Jewish community, according to the important role of this community in the history of the town.
The house in which the museum is located, a beautiful half-timbered house built in 1590, was inhabited by Jews from 1680 to 1922. Traces of Judaism can be found in the house: Mezuzot on the door frames, a removable roof on the oriel that housed the Soukka, which has now disappeared, and most of all a Mikvé, a ritual bath, from the 18th century.
It contains an important and beautiful collection of Jewish cult objects, both synagogal (Torah scrolls, curtain of the holy closet) and domestic (accessories for Kiddush, Havdalah, Seder, holidays, circumcision).
In addition, the museum has an important collection of items of Alsatian folk art and traditions.
