Community servant

Community servant / Kalmeshores

Migration of Jews to Frankfurt

Schwarzer Hermann

Schames

Shames is the Hebrew word for a community servant, also known in Frankfurt as the Schulklepper. The position was generally handed down over several generations within certain families, so that the family frequently adopted the occupational title instead of their original name, which in Frankfurt was generally derived from the place of origin or the family house in the Judengasse. The Emmerich family, for example, had migrated to Frankfurt in 1473 from Emmerich, a small town on the Lower Rhine, but later became known as Schames after several members of the family had held the position.
Once a family had become known as Schames, its members could still follow other occupations. In the 18th century for example there was a rabbi, Jakob David Schames who lived in Schwarzer Hermann, which the Schames family had occupied for around two centuries. The name Schames was found in Frankfurt until the 20th century. Before the Nazi era the art gallery Ludwig Schames was a major institute which was particularly important as a showcase for modern Expressionist art.