Jun. 25, 1779

“Edict” of Landgrave Friedrich of Hesse [Present-day Germany; Landgraviate Hesse]: “By the grace of God, We, Friedrich, Landgrave of Hesse, Prince of Herzfeld, Ear of Catzenelnbogen, […] in addition to bestowing [upon you] Our grace, we also announce the following: After finding it necessary […] to further explain and modify parts of the Jewish Ordinance of anno 1749 and to further clarify what the Jews applying for protection must bring/offer and […] must follow; therefore, We determine and order, that 4) In the future, no Jew is to be granted protection (given residency) or to apply for one if he’s not the oldest son and is not able to fulfill the other requirements (‘requisita’) as states in the Jewish ordinance of 1749 §3 […] only when the father is no longer alive and the household of the widow would collapse/go under […] and when such circumstances have been verified/attested to by an officers, do We reserve the right to graciously dispense such request (permit) […] Since we have 5) noticed that when documenting the assets […] often fraud is committed; therefore, henceforth, each time a Jew is requesting protection – he and his father —  if he’s still alive – are to swear an oath: that they each have assets in excess of 500 Reichsthaler each – after all debts have been deducted – which they can invest into their respective business. […] 6) In the future, no protection is to be granted to Jews in villages and towns (‘Dorfschaften’) where no Jew currently lives, […] and their number is not to exceed those of anno 1744 […] We had hoped that §19 of the Jewish Ordinance regarding the usurious contracts of the Jews and the 2nd § of the April 7, 1772, edict which already prohibited peddling to Jews, would receive more respect and would possibly discourage them (Jews), but since these (laws) are only partially heeded or not at all, […] We therefore order herewith all of Our officers, administrators, state servants to investigate the peddling of Jews more diligently and to report such incidences to the authorities without exception […]”
Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main; Freimann-Sammlung; Universitätsbibliothek UB, sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/freimann; Accessed online; Researched and Translated by Ziba Shadjaani 9/8/2018