I have a brochure >from the exhibition of Bamberg's Jewish history, currently
located in the old Bet Taharot.

The seal is a slightly elongated (in vertical direction) circle. Around the
edges, starting with a small star in the center and reading right and down,
and then back up, the text reads
* IUDEN DEPUDJRTEZU BAMBERG
(spelling and spacing as in the original). I translate this as "Deputies of
the Jews at Bamnberg."

Inside the outer ring, the text is Hebrew and reads

Peh Resh Nun Samekh Yod = Parnasey == the (community) wardens of
Bet aleph mem bet `ayin resh gimmel ==Bamberg
Vav heh mem dalet yod nun heh = vehamedinah ==and the (surrounding) province

Underneath that, are three letters: Yod (possibly zayin), `ayin, aleph. I
assume it is an abbreviation; it cannot be a year.

Underneath those three letters is a fairly large magen david >from which leaved
twigs grow up and around, culminating in a stylized flower on each side, that
embrace the three-letter abbreviation on each side.

Can anyone explain the yod-`ayin-aleph abbreviation?

Michael Bernet

BERNET, BERNAT, BAERNET etc >from Frensdorf, Bamberg, Nurnberg, (Bavaria)
KONIGSHOFER: Welbhausen, Konigshofen, Furth (S. Germany)
ALTMANN: Kattowitz, Breslau, Poznan, Beuthen--Upper Silesia/Poland
WOLF(F): Frankfurt, Wurzburg, Furth, Yugoslavia, Westchester