18th Century Printed and Manuscript Prussian Passport for the Jew Abraham Salomon

Nauen: Major of Nauen, 1746. Original document. Broadside. vg. Folio (12 1/2" x 8"). Rare printed one page document in Gothic script issued at Nauen by "Königl. Preuß. und Churf. Brandenburgis. zur gedachten Stadt verordnete Bürgermeister und Rathmanne, signed "Schencke" on 28th of July, 1746," and sealed with red wax. Protected by modern mylar in portfolio with clear plastic cover and black backing, stitched black leather frames with decorative bass corners.

The printed part of the document attests that the bearer of this passport is not known to have been at any infected or suspicious location nor has been in contact with infected or suspicious (truncated) people, and furthermore has applied for this passport and certification. Permission to travel in a safe and unimpeded fashion is herewith granted.

Completed in handwriting for the Jew (Juden) Abraham Salomon and his son Marcus granting permission to travel from Nauen via Brandenburg to Halberstadt and Frankfurt/Main. Further handwritten entries on the reverse of the document show Salomon being in Frankfurt/Main on September 27, 1746, and in Berlin on August 28th, 1748.

Atrocities of Chmielnicki (1648, in the Ukrainian part of southeastern Poland) and his Cossacks in the 17th Century drove Polish Jews back into western Germany. Prussia readmitted them in 1671 and this trend accelerated throughout the 18th century as other parts of Germany began to follow suit. In 1730 special letters of protection were granted to David Hirsch in Potsdam (province of Brandenburg) and soon to other Jewish manufacturers.

An Abraham Salomon is mentioned in Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, part v, p. 167, Brandenburg 1740, and in Novum Corpus Constitutionum Prussico-Brandenburgensium praecipue Marchicarum, vol. 5, p. 537; a 1773 list of Jews contains the name Abraham Salomon.

Text in German. Very light wear along edges and tear in middle fold of bottom half of document. Some staining and light foxing, mainly on lower right corner of verso. Remnants of wax seal on front, miniscule on verso. Overall in very good condition. (Inventory #: 39326)