one of the 13 on the Rhine with important Jewish communities. Jewish residents in Andernach were first mentioned in the Köln archives in 1255. The Jewish community was periodically persecuted during the 13th to 15th centuries. On 3 August 1287 Archbishop Siegfried II of Westerburg issued a protection decree for the town Jews from the local Burghers. Persecutions occurred especially during the 14th century by the Arnold von Uissigheim "Armleder" persecutions and in 1348–1349, as a result of the Black Death Jewish persecutions. It appears as if between the 15th and the 19th centuries no Jews lived in Andernach. In 1860, a new Jewish community was founded in Andernach. Its cemetery, dated to 1888, is part of the city cemetery on KoblenzerStrasse. On Kristallnacht in 1938, the town synagogue was set on fire and most of the young men were taken to Dachau. At least 11 Jews who used to live in Andernach were murdered during the Holocaust, and no Jews lived in Andernach after 1945. Several sites commemorate the history of Jewish community of Andernach. An ancient Jewish Mikveh, dated to the 13th century, is one of the oldest ones in Europe and can be found under the old town house, built in the 16th century close to the site where the synagogue stood. The Mikveh can be visited. Population development Lord Mayors Till 1969 the Lord Mayor was named Mayor. 1946–1948: Egon Herfeldt (CDP, later FWG) 1949–1964: Johann Füth (CDU) 1965–1974: Walter Steffens (CDU) 1974–1994: Gerold Küffmann (CDU) since 1994: Achim Hütten (born 1957), (SPD) Mayors 1965–1975: Werner Klein (SPD) (1928–1985) 1975–1982: Helmuth Günter (CDU) 1983–1993: Rainer Krämer (SPD) 1993–1994: Achim Hütten (SPD) 1994–2002: Franz Breil (FWG) 2002–2010: Josef Nonn (CDU) since 2010: Claus Peitz (CDU) Literature Honoré de Balzac places his short story L'Auberge rouge in Andernach. It is also the birthplace of twentieth century American author Charles Bukowski. Music The Dutch folk song "T'Andernaken" (In Andernach) was very popular all over western Europe in the 15th/16th century and set to music by numerous composers of the period such as Obrecht, Brumel, King Henry VIII, Agricola, Hofhaimer, Senfl. Places of interest The famous Lake Laach (Ger. "Laacher See", literally "'Laachian' or 'Laky' Lake", i.e. "Lacustrine Lake" or "Lake of the Lake", comparable to the naming of "Loch Lochy" in Scotland) is the largest maar-like lake in the Eifel (more precisely a water-filled caldera) and has a 12th-century