Jakab Réka: Bérlőből polgár. Pápa város zsidó közösségének társadalom- és gazdaságtörténete 1748-1848 (Veszprém, 2014)
of the role of the Jews of Pápa in the economic life of the estates and the city, which is to say the factors that made it possible for such a large community to make a living in the city. For we have not found another example of a community of this size in other cities on great estates and market towns. We therefore looked at all the economic activities in which local Jews had a determining role. The Jewish community, through immigration and natural increase, played a determining economic role in the life of the city, making use of the economic possibilities presented by the governance of the great landowner, well aware of the mutual nature of their interests. The first settlers mostly had capital to invest, since the legal background to their settlement in the city was the pursuit of some kind of economic activity. With time, however, more and more families settled who did not eke out their livelihoods for themselves, but were far more likely to be in someone else’s employ or to be merchants or craftsmen for their own account. The great landowners and the stewards who managed their estates recognised and made use of the advantages of the settlement of Jews in the cities and on the estates - and their economic activities - early on. This had mutual benefits to both sides. The activity of the Jews, who had become specialised primarily in the wholesale purchase of goods and the exploitation of licenses from the landowners, had a beneficial effect on the turnover of goods produced on the estates, thereby offering a livelihood to an increasing number of Jews. Since the urban settlement of Jews and their economic activities were subject to permission from the landowners, their economic activities were first and foremost the leasing of licenses from the landowner. These were for the rental and exploitation of (or the rental of the profits of) licenses for the customs house, the sale of wine, the production and sale of eau de vie, the butcher’s, the trade in salt, the operation of shops and ‘ash-houses’ for the manufacture of potassium carbonate. The Jews had obtained a licence to sell wine in the public house they rented from the landowner as early as 1710. Throughout the period, Jews rented - and operated - the estate’s urban public houses. The estate’s brewery and distillery, located in an outlying section of town, and the distilleries in surrounding villages were leased almost exclusively by Jews. They also entered into the long-distance trade in wine. One of the important sources of income for the Esterházy estate - which had significant holdings in the Bakony region - became the production of soap and saltpetre - as well as potassium carbonate, used in the manufacture of glass and textiles, which were in increased demand from the Imperial industries of the 18th century. Production was mostly in the forests of Trans302
