The sculpture by Kathleen Hegenbarth was created in 2021 during our wood sculptor symposium as part of the project "With Open Eyes and Arms" as part of the theme year 1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany and 900 Years of Jewish Life in Thuringia.

The mikvah of Schmalkalden is an important relic of Jewish culture in southern Thuringia. The immersion bath was used for ritual cleansing and was fed with groundwater and rainwater. The steps leading into the basin can be found inside the stele. In contrast to the mikvah, in which the water is collected in a basin, the rain falls through the interior of the stele into the abyss and is not caught. A reference to the fact that in Schmalkalden too, due to the anti-Semitic persecution and expulsion, the local Jewish culture has almost completely disappeared. The inscription in Hebrew script means remembering.