Old Synagogue (Gelsenkirchen)

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The old synagogue of the liberal synagogue community Gelsenkirchen was built on Gelsenkirchener Neustraße in 1885. It was destroyed as part of the November pogroms in 1938 . A warning plaque , which was erected in 1963 on the area of ​​the former synagogue, which has been called "Synagogue Square" since 1993, reminds of this . The new Gelsenkirchen synagogue has been located here since 2007 .

Location and surroundings

The old synagogue was located at Neustraße 4-6 in Gelsenkirchen in the immediate vicinity of what was then Neumarkt. However, when Buer and Horst came to the city of Gelsenkirchen as new districts in 1928 , Gelsenkirchener Neustraße had to be renamed, as there were streets with the same name in Erle and Horst. On March 25, 1937, the street was named after the title of the anti-Jewish combat paper Der Stürmer . This was intended as an affront to the Jewish religious building located there. After the Second World War , different names were available for the street: The proposal to name the street “Synagogenstraße” because of the Jewish sacred building that was once there, did not find a majority. Finally, on May 29, 1946, the main and finance committee of Gelsenkirchen decided to name the street “Gildenstraße”.

history

The Jewish sacred building was built in 1884/85 and inaugurated from 21 to 23 August 1885 by the Cologne rabbi Abraham Frank . The synagogue offered space for more than 400 worshipers on two floors. There was space for 106 women on the gallery and 256 men on the ground floor. It was the synagogue of the liberal Jewish synagogue community in Gelsenkirchen and, according to the festschrift, the "divine service [...] was organized according to modern, progressive principles". Presumably the service was conducted according to the liberal standard prayer book, which was written by Caesar Seligmann , Ismar Elbogen and Hermann Vogelstein and published by the liberal cultural committee of the Prussian State Association of Jewish Congregations .

Most of the prayers were held in German, while important core prayers were written in Hebrew . After an organ was installed, the last Orthodox parishioners left this Jewish community.

As part of the November pogroms in 1938, the Stürmerstrasse was cordoned off by the police late in the evening of November 9, 1938. The fire brigade was also there to prevent the synagogue fire from spreading to neighboring buildings. Afterwards, the synagogue and the adjacent parish hall were set on fire during the pogrom night. One day later - on November 10, 1938 - the local police authority sent the Gelsenkirchen Jews a demolition order. The victims then had to tear down the ruins of the synagogue and the parish hall on what was then Stürmerstrasse 4-6 at their own expense.

architecture

The sacred building was designed by the Essen architect Peter Zindel in the “Moorish style” with a double tower facade . The “high towers” ​​emphasized the “height [...]”. According to Hannelore Künzl, the facade scheme of the double tower facade was based on "the type of Christian church". The towers of the old synagogue could also be seen from what was then Neumarkt. There was a Star of David above the portal . The approximately five meter high Torah shrine (Aron ha-Kodesch) was made of solid wood and was located in the middle of the east wall. Above the Aron ha-Kodesch there was a stained-glass window with the Star of David. The Bima stood in front of the Aron ha-Kodesch . According to Künzl, only "Islamic elements" were used sparingly: "Despite the form of the horseshoe arch used here, the influence of Islam [...] seems to have been overcome".

See also

literature

  • Hannelore Künzl: Islamic style elements in synagogue construction of the 19th and early 20th centuries (= Judaism and the environment. 9). Publishing house Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1984, ISBN 3-8204-8034-X , pp. 371-372.
  • Hartmut Stratmann: The synagogue in Gelsenkirchen 1885-1938. From the house file "Gildenstrasse 4/6" (= Jewish life in Gelsenkirchen. Issue 2). Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Gelsenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen 1995.
  • Wiltrud Apfeld, Karin Clermont: A new building on an old site. Gelsenkirchen has a new synagogue. Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Gelsenkirchen e. V., Gelsenkirchen 2009.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chaim Guski: Judaism in Gelsenkirchen. on Talmud.de. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  2. ↑ Anniversary: ​​Commemoration and remembrance of the victims of the so-called "Reichskristallnacht". at gelsenzentrum.de
  3. ↑ From the history of the Jewish community in the German-speaking area: Gelsenkirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia). on jewische-gemeinden.de; New Synagogue Gelsenkirchen. on route-industriekultur.de.
  4. ^ Hannelore Künzl: Islamic style elements in synagogue construction of the 19th and early 20th centuries. P. 372.
  5. ^ Hannelore Künzl: Islamic style elements in synagogue construction of the 19th and early 20th centuries. P. 370.
  6. ↑ Visit to the new synagogue and Jewish food 2012 on sankt-Elisabeth.org
  7. ^ Hannelore Künzl: Islamic style elements in synagogue construction of the 19th and early 20th centuries. P. 371.

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 '36.9 "  N , 7 ° 5' 49.8"  E