Former Israelite preparatory school

In 1865, Rabbi Lazarus Ottensoser (1798-1876) acquired the estate at Sonnemannstraße 15 together with his relatives, the Eldod family, in which he set up the preparatory school and his flat. While the Eldod family lived on the ground floor, Rabbi Ottensoser set up a small religious school, the Talmud Torah School, in his flat on the upper floor.

After his death at the age of 78, he was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Höchberg. The Lazarus Ottensoser Foundation he established for the preparatory school was supported by grants and numerous individual donations.

The name of the school is derived from the Latin word praeparare (to prepare). The pupils, and from 1930 also female pupils, were prepared there to attend the Israelite Teacher Training College (ILBA).  On 27 July 1861, the statutes of the Israelite Preparatory School were approved by the royal government.8

In 1919, the curriculum of the preparatory school was expanded for boys from the age of 10 who were required to attend elementary school and, in addition to religious subjects, commercial arithmetic, shorthand and typing were also taught.

In 1931, as a result of the Great Depression, the school merged with the Jewish Teacher Training College in Würzburg. The building served as a residential building until 1993. The building, which had been owned by the municipality of Höchberg since 1978 was renovated in 1995/1996. 6, 7

The former preparatory school houses a permanent exhibition about Jewish life in Höchberg in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Stumbling stones in Sonnemannstraße and on the footbridge at Karwinkel commemorate Jewish inhabitants.

As part of the DenkOrt Deportations 1941-1944 project, a symbolic suitcase was placed on the market square on 9 November 2021. The suitcase will also be placed at other public locations in Höchberg in order to commemorate the deported Höchberg citizens.