Upper Rhine Jewish Origins may be of interest to you if you are, or believe you are a descendant of one of the former Jewish communities from the Upper Rhine River Plain of Baden Germany. The Rhine River Plain of Baden (today Baden-Württemberg) Germany is situated between the Upper Rhine River and the Black Forest. The Jewish populations of these small rural communities (which included Altdorf, Schmieheim, Rust, Ettenheim, Friesenheim, Kippenheim, Lahr, Nonnenweiler, Orschweier, Rust and Kenzingen) are believed to have swelled near the beginning of the 18th century. The Jews who settled there from other areas inside and outside Germany were seeking a living as traders, especially in livestock or artisans. This was one hundred years before Jews were required to adopt surnames in Baden (1809) and before vital records for Jews were maintained in Germany.

A map showing the area of interest for this group is shown here. The primary communities of interest lie within within the box with the dark dashed lines. Secondary communities of interest lie outside this box but within the red boundary.

As genealogists, we can often use cemetery records and other vital records available to find our ancestors in one of these villages two hundred years ago but are limited in our knowledge of earlier history (from what areas did they originate)?? We hope that by sharing our genetic codes from either our matrilinear or patrilinear heritage we hope to find common clues in our codes. As intermarriage among Jews in these villages was common, we also wish to seek connections between researchers sharing ancestors from this region.