"Hep-Hep Riot" in Frankfurt am Main (1819)

Contemporary etching of a so-called Hep-Hep riot against Frankfurt Jews, one of the most serious instances of the largely urban violence that began in Würzburg (Bavaria) in August 1819 and then spread all over the German Confederation and beyond. The disturbances took place in unsettled times marked by bad harvests, social unrest, and rumors of revolutionary conspiracy (thought to be encoded in the mysterious “Hep-Hep” chant that mobilized the mob in many locales). The violence against Jews and their property was probably directly triggered by the issue of Jewish emancipation, which was being debated in the Bavarian parliament at the time. Contemporary etching.

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© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz