Old Synagogue of Regensburg

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The Old Synagogue of Regensburg was a building that was desecrated when the Jewish community was expelled from Regensburg in 1519 and demolished immediately afterwards. It is the only Ashkenazi medieval synagogue whose interior design is known from an image source.

Circumstances of the synagogue destruction

In 1517, the Jewish community in Regensburg successfully defended itself against the incitement of the cathedral preacher, Balthasar Hubmaier , and had him expelled from Regensburg. The anti-Jewish minded city council therefore seized the opportunity when Emperor Maximilian I , the protector of the Jews, died on January 12, 1519 in Wels . The decision had already been made: the Jewish community was informed immediately that all of its members had to leave the city by February 25th. A delay of three days to settle their financial circumstances was all the city council allowed the Regensburg Jews.

The destruction of the synagogue was set in motion with great haste. The demolition of the portico began on February 21st, and the main room was included in the demolition the following day. The exact dates are interesting because you can see how little time Albrecht Altdorfer had for the construction survey described below. He made architectural drawings that served as a template for two etchings.

Albrecht Altdorfer's etchings of the synagogue

The widow's mite (Daniel Hopfer, etching)

Altdorfer's project of documenting the appearance of the synagogue before it was destroyed is unique. From the sources one does not find out who the client was or which customers Altdorfer wanted to address with the two sheets. Thomas Noll suggests that the synagogue space was of interest to artists as a backdrop for biblical scenes, and in fact Daniel Hopfer used Altdorfer's synagogue depiction as a template for an etching depicting the New Testament pericope from the widow's mite (Lk 21, 1-4) Had topic.

The two sheets represent the vestibule and main room of the Regensburg synagogue and are probably related to one another: the sheet with the portico can be placed to the right of the sheet depicting the interior; The viewer's gaze is directed from right to left in the anteroom to the portal, which reappears on the right side of the picture in the main room. As a result of the printing, both sheets are mirror-inverted compared to Altdorfer's drawing, that is, originally the viewing direction corresponded to the reading direction from left to right and was therefore even more catchy.

In the anteroom of the synagogue, two Jews are shown entering the house of God who serve as identification figures for the viewer. They made it possible for the owner of the two etchings “to visit this place in the imagination, to walk through it and stay in it.” Together with the observation that the two sheets are titled anti-Jewish (see below), but the synagogue is an impressive one Building is shown, Noll comes to another assumption: Altdorfer sold the etchings to Regensburg Jews who wanted to take a memory of their synagogue with them. Etchings were completed comparatively quickly, and the erratic execution of the inscriptions shows that work was under time pressure.

Since the synagogue was apparently surrounded by narrow residential buildings, the facade of the building was difficult to draw.

View of the porch

Inscription: PORTICUS. SINAGOGAE / JUDAICAE. RATISPONEN (SIS) / FRACTA .21. THE FEB (RUARII). / ANN (O) 1519. “Portal of the Jewish Regensburg Synagogue. Canceled on February 21, 1519. "

Dimensions: 164 mm × 116 mm

This vestibule gives the impression of a later addition to the Romanesque synagogue. A round window with Gothic tracery can be seen at the front, a six-pass that resembles a six-pointed star - this motif was depicted on the seal of the Regensburg synagogue community.

Two visitors to the synagogue, recognizable as Jews by their costume, liven up the architectural view. The person in front is just stepping through the portal so that they can only be seen from behind. The second person carries a large book.

Interior view of the synagogue

Inscription: ANNO. D (OMI) NI. (M) D XIX. / IVDAICA RATISPONA / SYNAGOGA. IVSTO / DEI IVDICIO. FUNDIT (V) S / EST. EVERSA. "In the year of the Lord, 1519, the Jewish Regensburg synagogue was completely demolished after God's righteous judgment."

Dimensions: 170 mm × 126 mm

Altdorfer depicted the sacral room, which is only 16 meters long and 6 meters wide, from a central perspective, with rhythmic pillars and services and canopy-like cross - ribbed vaults , making it appear more spacious than it actually was. One looks from the west into a two-aisled room divided by three columns, each of which corresponds to three triple-bundled services on the longitudinal walls. In the middle of the room is the quarter of the bima . This place for reading the Torah, raised by three steps, encloses the central column. The bima takes up the middle of the otherwise empty synagogue space and is framed by columns with bud capitals and arcades. On the east wall, the Torah shrine , architecturally highlighted by an eyelash , is partially covered by the bima and in the shade, so it can only be seen vaguely.

The light falls through small, high-lying upper clad windows on the long sides as well as through a narrow lancet window on the east wall - a second lancet window should probably be added and covered by the row of columns. A chandelier hangs from the ceiling above the bima, which is largely covered by the front column.

With this interior view of the synagogue, the artist "took a position that was not possible in reality, namely outside the room, the fourth, western wall of which appears to be open, while the cut through the stone blocks of the floor also marks the room boundary."

Excavations on the Neupfarrplatz

Interior of the Prague Old New School , which was built on the model of the Regensburg synagogue. Instead of a stone parapet, the bima is surrounded by a metal grille
Misrach: In the foreground the Hebrew lettering מזרח marks the location of the Torah shrine; the bases of the three central columns are indicated and in between the elevated position of the bima

Fragments of the Bima were found around 1940. Two pieces of the parapet, a column with a bud cap and a fragment of a round arch are now in the Regensburg City Museum.

Surprisingly, the foundations of the destroyed synagogue on the Neupfarrplatz came to light during excavations between 1995 and 1997 . This was previously assumed to be under today's Neupfarrkirche . But the foundations of the three central pillars matched Altdorfer's etching, so identification was clear.

The late Romanesque-early Gothic synagogue captured by Altdorfer in the picture is dated to the early 13th century and expanded a smaller previous building from the late 11th century. It had a trapezoidal plan; the long walls measured 16.20 meters, the west wall 6.30 meters and the east wall (with the Torah shrine) 9.20 meters. The square of the Bima is 3.50 m long and 3.25 m wide.

Originally the synagogue had two entrances on the south and north sides, but the south portal was bricked up.

The two-aisled building type can also be found at the Worms synagogue , but also at the Nikolauskapelle at the Regensburg Schottenkloster. The Regensburg synagogue provided the model for the younger synagogues that were built in Prague and Vienna.

Misrach

The accessible relief Misrach by Dani Karavan has been on the site of the medieval synagogue since 2005.

Web links

literature

  • Thomas Noll : Albrecht Altdorfers etchings of the synagogue in Regensburg . In: Ludger Grenzmann, Thomas Haye, Nikolaus Henkel, Thomas Kaufmann (eds.): Mutual perception of religions in the late Middle Ages and in the early modern period. Volume 1: Basic conceptual questions and case studies (pagans, barbarians, Jews). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-021352-2 , pp. 189-230.
  • Silvia Codreanu-Windauer : The Medieval Jewish Quarter of Regensburg and its Synagogue: Archaeological Research 1995–1997 . In: Timothy Insoll (Ed.): Case Studies in Archeology ans World Religion. The Proceedings of the Cambridge Conference. Oxford 1999. pp. 139-152.
  • Silvia Codreanu-Windauer: February 21, 1519 - The expulsion of the Jews from Regensburg. In: Alois Schmid , Katharina Weigand (ed.): Bavaria by year and day: 24 days from Bavarian history. CH Beck, Munich 2007, pp. 193-215.
  • Hans Christoph Dittscheid: The synagogue buildings of the Upper Palatinate from the Middle Ages to the modern age. In: Michael Brenner, Renate Höpfinger (Hrsg.): The Jews in the Upper Palatinate . Oldenbourg, Munich 2009. pp. 27-52.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thomas Noll: Albrecht Altdorfers etchings . S. 200 .
  2. ↑ a b Thomas Noll: Albrecht Altdorfers etchings . S. 211 .
  3. ^ Thomas Noll: Albrecht Altdorfers etchings . S. 212 .
  4. ^ Thomas Noll: Albrecht Altdorfers etchings . S. 212 .
  5. ↑ Print, Museum Number 1924,1213.2. In: Collection online. British Museum, accessed August 11, 2018 .
  6. ^ Hans-Christoph Dittscheid: Synagogue buildings . S. 32 .
  7. ↑ Print, Museum 1894,0611.2 number. In: Collection online. British Museum, accessed August 11, 2018 .
  8. ^ Thomas Noll: Albrecht Altdorfers etchings . S. 199-200 .
  9. ^ Thomas Noll: Albrecht Altdorfers etchings . S. 203 .
  10. ↑ Hans Christoph Dittschied: synagogues . S. 31-32 .
  11. ^ Thomas Noll: Albrecht Altdorfers etchings . S. 196 .
  12. ^ Hans-Christoph Dittscheid: Synagogue buildings . S. 33 .
  13. ↑ Silvia Codreanu-Windauer: The expulsion of the Jews from Regensburg . S. 207 .