The Jewish community in Dettensee dates back to the 16th century when Dettensee belonged to the Swiss Monastery of Muri which allowed Jews with ‘Letters of Protection’ to settle there. In 1764, 23 Jewish families – mainly very poor - lived in the village. In 1830 the Jewish population reached its highest level with 173 members. They had a synagogue (officially opened in 1820), a ritual bath, a school with its own teacher and from 1822 to 1836 their own rabbi, Max Hirsch. At that time Dettensee belonged to the principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

Around 1900, Jewish community life was no longer possible due to the rapid decrease in membership. In 1913 only two Jews, the siblings Luise and Hermann Hirsch, lived in Dettensee. Attempts to find another purpose for the synagogue failed and it was pulled down in 1930. In 1942, Luise Hirsch, the last Jewish person in Dettensee, was deported to Theresienstadt and murdered in Treblinka.