The Mainz State Museum has a highly significant collection of Judaica, particularly thanks to its medieval synagogue inscriptions and funerary monuments. The new publication "Eine Krone für Magenza" (A Crown for Magenza) documents the importance of this collection of Jewish cultural objects for Mainz.

It not only describes the history and origin of the cultural assets, but also presents cult objects and their functions in a catalog section, with the inscriptions newly translated from Hebrew. The medieval Jewish gravestones preserved in the Landesmuseum Mainz, including one of the oldest epitaphs ever found in Europe, are also included, as are the medieval synagogue inscriptions.

The volume also commemorates the now almost forgotten small Jewish museum that was located in Mainz's Hindenburgstraße from 1926 to 1938, where the new synagogue stands today.

A large part of the rescued cult objects are on display in the Landesmuseum's Judaica collection.

"A Crown for Magenza" is a further contribution to the preservation of Jewish heritage in the SchUM cities of Mainz, Worms, and Speyer. The state government is currently preparing an application to UNESCO to recognize the SchUM cities as World Heritage Sites.

The richly illustrated volume is published by Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg, and is available in bookstores for €19.95 (ISBN: 978-3-7319-0158-7).