The Jewish Congregation
As a precondition it was not allowed to be Jewish in Denmark in the 17th Century. But King Christian the 4th allowed Jewsto settle in the towns of Gluckstadt and Altona but otherwise not. Nevertheless an opening was made with the allocation of freedom of worship to Fredericia in 1674 and next year the first Jews made their arrival.
It was the hope that financially stronger persons could be attracted to the town when religious freedom was granted. Newertheless, the first many years it was mainly roaming people who came to Fredericia. Therefore the municipal authorities of the town threatened that the Jews would lose their civil rights if they didn´t built a house and settled permanently.
The Jewish Synagoge in Riddergade (The Knights Street), 1914. It had been there since 1719, and the last service was held there in 1902. In 1914 the building was sold , and in 1915 it was demolished. Today a memorial marks the place where the building once stood.
Before 1700 a synagogue as well as a school were established in a private house in Danmarksgade - but for some years there was internal disagreement among the Jews and by the beginning of the 18th Century there was a competing synagogue in another private home. Around 1715 the congregation was unified and in 1719 a house in Riddersgade was bought and rebuilt as a synagogue.
In 1918 all Jews born in Denmark were allowed to settle where they wanted. After this year the congregation in Fredericia slowly dwindled. In 1902 the last Jewish service was held in the synagogue which was sold in 1914 and in 1915 torn down. The only visible evidence of the Jewish presence in Fredericia is the Mosaic burial place at Vestervoldgade which by Jewish tradition never can be discontinued.