Siebengemeinden

The Siebengemeinden (Hebrew: שֶבַע קְהִלּוֹת; English: Seven Communities, Hungarian: Hét hitközség[1]) were seven Jewish communities located in Kismarton (today Eisenstadt, Austria) and its surrounding area.

[2] The communities were established after 1670, when Paul I, 1st Prince Esterházy of Galántha accepted the Jews that had been expelled from Vienna by Leopold I.

The Siebengemeinden (now in Austrian Burgenland, which formerly belonged to Hungary) were composed of communities in Kismarton, Nagymarton (Mattersburg, old German name: Mattersdorf), Kabold (Kobersdorf), Lakompak (Lackenbach), Boldogasszony (Frauenkirchen), Köpcsény (Kittsee), and Sopronkeresztúr (Deutschkreutz, Hebrew: Tzeilem, Yiddish: Zelem).

Another community developed in Nagymarton under the leadership of Rabbi Moses Sofer (1763–1839).

All seven communities fell victim to the persecution of the Jews under the government of the National Socialists.