This picture dates back to the 1920s and depicts a group of young Jews from Kastellaun. The elegant, fashionable clothing worn suggests that the picture may have been taken at a dance training session.

A prohibition on dancing that had been in place during the First World War was lifted on New Year’s Eve 1918. The dance craze that followed over the next years encompassed both the cities as well as the countryside. Pleasure seekers rushed to dance venues and society balls that oftentimes also functioned as marriage markets. Several rural Jewish communities (e.g. Kirchberg) organized formal public balls on the occasion of the Torah celebration (Simchat Torah) in September or October, commemorating the end and the beginning of the Jewish year.

The „Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten“ (RjF - German Association of Jewish Front-line Soldiers) was founded in Berlin in 1919 to counter the anti-Semitic sentiment that arose after the First World War around the myth that the Jews were to blame for Germany’s defeat.

From 1933 on, the local RjF chapter in Kastellaun established its own sports department because many Jewish sports enthusiasts were no longer welcome in their hometown clubs. This picture from 1934 depicts Kastellaun’s RjF soccer team, who would oftentimes meet at a field on the “Spesenrother Weg” to play and occasionally host interregional championships. Nevertheless, it soon became virtually impossible for the team to organize regular games.

Faced with the incipient flight of many of its members, the club eventually disbanded with the association being ultimately prohibited in 1938.

The photo depicts the District sports festival hosted by the “Sportverein Castellaun” (SVC) sports club in July 1931.

Established in 1919, the club portrayed its membership as being relaxed, sociable and free from traditional ballast. At times, more than 20 Jewish members played an active role in the association.

Fistball was a beloved sport among the club’s female members, on whose team many Jewish players enjoyed great success.

This theatre bill for the Friends of Theatre and Music (T.u.M.F.) in Kastellaun advertises their production of „Der Jongleur“ (The Juggler). Of the members, two of the actors and the director were Jewish.

The society, established in 1919, not only comprised a theatre group, but supported its own orchestra and a mixed choir, as well. Within seven years they had performed over 50 stage plays with casts made up of members from almost every Jewish family in Kastellaun.

In April of 1927 Julius Meyer, also Jewish, was voted in as secretary to the board at the clubhouse “Palm”. He remained in that position until 1932, when he made his last entry into the meeting minutes: “The theatre presentation from the 6th of March 1932 regrettably did not achieve the success desired, despite enormous efforts on the part of the cast“. The society was banned in 1933 under circumstances that are not documented in its records.

This picture shows the active female members of the Kastellaun Gymnastics Club towards the end of the 1920s, including the Jewish gymnasts Henny Forst together with Trude and Hilde Katzenstein.

Founded in 1903, the club was somewhat characterized by their adherence to traditional values. The predominantly well-to-do Protestant citizens of Kastellaun felt themselves drawn to the club’s German national orientation. For this reason, Jewish members participated almost exclusively on the woman’s gymnastics team.

This photo, taken around 1929/1930, shows one of Kastellaun’s active skittles clubs during a meeting in the clubhouse “Palm”. Julius Meyer (3rd from the left) was a member of this club until his emigration in 1937.

For some time, Jews could safely pursue their hobbies with a certain degree of secluded privacy, especially in some of the smaller clubs.

Isaak Forst from Kastellaun and his son, Alex Forst, were members of the tradition-steeped shooting club. A plaque in the club’s honour gallery records the special occasion when Isaak received the Champion Marksman award. After 1933, however, this plaque was removed from the club’s gallery; a clear sign that the gradual exclusion of Jews from public life was already in progress. It was only in 2004 that the club came to terms with this chapter of its history and replaced the plaque with a new one.

Isaak and Alex Forst were the only Jewish members of the „Wilhelm Tell“ Shooting Club, perhaps because the club’s adherence to traditional values made membership seem less attractive to other Jews. Furthermore, many Jews were not wealthy enough to be admitted into the clique. The Forst family had made a fortune through successfully trading horses, which opened the doors for them to join the association.

This music book belonged to Simon Baum, who lived in Bruschied from 1851 to 1914. He came from a Jewish family that had resided in the region over many generations. The book comprises handwritten notes for compositions bearing titles such as the „Waltz“, the „Carnival Gallop“ and the „Polka“. Simon Baum wrote some of the pieces himself and often played them at dance venues.

His talent was passed on to his son, Samuel Baum, who made a name for himself in the wider surrounding area as a music teacher. He taught piano, horn and violin to both Jewish and Christian families alike. He was a highly sought after musician and his school concerts were always well attended.

This music book has been part of the collection maintained by the Laufersweiler Synagogue since 2016.

Refer also to: https://nat.museum-digital.de/index.php?t=objekt&oges=777476