![Large ring with accompanying box. [Probably Bavaria, Germany, 19th century. The box is from Sweden, probably Stockholm].](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale108/267_1.jpg "Betrothal Ring for Communal Use – Bavaria, Germany, 19th Century")
![Large ring with accompanying box. [Probably Bavaria, Germany, 19th century. The box is from Sweden, probably Stockholm].](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale108/267_2.jpg "Betrothal Ring for Communal Use – Bavaria, Germany, 19th Century")
![Large ring with accompanying box. [Probably Bavaria, Germany, 19th century. The box is from Sweden, probably Stockholm].](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale108/267_3.jpg "Betrothal Ring for Communal Use – Bavaria, Germany, 19th Century")
![Large ring with accompanying box. [Probably Bavaria, Germany, 19th century. The box is from Sweden, probably Stockholm].](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale108/267_4.jpg "Betrothal Ring for Communal Use – Bavaria, Germany, 19th Century")
![Large ring with accompanying box. [Probably Bavaria, Germany, 19th century. The box is from Sweden, probably Stockholm].](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale108/267_5.jpg "Betrothal Ring for Communal Use – Bavaria, Germany, 19th Century")
Auction 108 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Scrolls and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Betrothal Ring for Communal Use – Bavaria, Germany, 19th Century
Opening: $300
Sold for: $375
Including buyer's premium
Large ring with accompanying box. [Probably Bavaria, Germany, 19th century. The box is from Sweden, probably Stockholm].
Low-grade silver, cut, repoussé and soldered (ring unmarked; lid of box marked with Swedish standard marks, probably from Stockholm, date mark "L4" = 1841 and Swedish maker's mark, "J.F.W."; interior of box marked with monogram).
Round, wide and tall ring, composed of smooth strips with alternating decorations (probably made by cutting a longer cylinder). Housed in accompanying box.
The present ring appears to originate in one of the communities of Bavaria. In a list authored by Simon Brueckheimer's son, Lazar (Eliezer) in 2014, he notes that the present ring, due to its plain design and dimensions, served as the betrothal ring in weddings where the groom didn't have the means to purchase a ring; once a wedding ring was eventually purchased, the present ring would be recirculated for communal use.
Ring: Diameter 2 cm. Height: 1.8 cm. Weight: 4.80 g.
Box: Diameter: 3.5 cm. Height: 2.2 cm. Weight: 20.50 g. Overall good condition.
Provenance: Collection of Simon Brueckheimer.
The Simon Brueckheimer Collection
Simon Brueckheimer was born in Külsheim in 1889. He moved to Marktbreit in 1911, where he served as a schoolteacher from 1920 onward. In 1929, he initiated a project to document Jewish ritual objects and property in the communities of Bavaria, which he conducted during school vacations as part of the Verband Bayerischer Israelitischer Gemeinden (Association of Bavarian Jewish Communities).
During Kristallnacht, Brueckheimer fled to Frankfurt, where he was arrested and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. After six weeks he was released, returned to Marktbreit, and in April 1939 emigrated with his family to London, where he continued his project of documentation of the Jewish communities of Bavaria.
During his travels among small communities, as well as after his emigration to London, Brueckheimer assembled a small collection of Jewish objects, which he gathered in the communities themselves or acquired later from Jewish refugees who had arrived in England. Highlights of his collection include a goblet used for the Chevra Kadisha meal of the community of Schwabach, now in the collection of the Israel Museum; and a Torah shield from Gossmannsdorf, sold by Kedem (Auction 106, February 24, 2026, Lot 14). His papers, documenting some 150 small Jewish communities throughout Bavaria, are preserved in the Yad Vashem archives in Jerusalem. Brueckheimer died in England in 1950.
Proceeds from the sale of items from the Brueckheimer collection will be donated in full.
Various Objects from the Simon Brueckheimer Collection
Various Objects from the Simon Brueckheimer Collection