Memorbuch’s served several different purposes for Jewish communities throughout Central Europe. One purpose was as a necrology of distinguished persons, either of local or of general Jewish importance, lists of deceased, as well as prayers of purely local use and origin. They were, therefore, never printed, gradually falling into disuse in the mid-19th century, due to the unification and standardization of services and ritual. The name, Memorbuch may derive from its being placed, for the convenience of the reader, on the almemar, or perhaps it is derived from the Latin memoria. Memorbuecher were particularly common among communities in rural areas; they are, to the historian, an important source for the social and religious history of the Jews and are frequently cited.

Wiesbaden had Jewish residents from the 14th century. Abraham Geiger introduced his first reforms while acting as rabbi there (1832–38). Forty Orthodox families established an independent community in 1876. The Jewish population numbered 990 in 1875, 2,744 (2.5% of the total) in 1910, 3,088 (3%) in 1925, 2,713 (1.7%) in 1933, and 1,232 (0.7%) in 1939. After the rise of the Nazis to power the Jews of Wiesbaden suffered persecution like those in the rest of Germany. The synagogues were burned in 1938. In 1942, 1,100 Jews were deported from Wiesbaden. In 1965 there were 350 Jews living in Wiesbaden (0.1% of the total population). A new synagogue was opened in 1966.