Levy Synagogue in Worms

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View of the Levy Synagogue from Judengasse

The Levy'sche Synagogue (also: New Synagogue ) was a 1875 consecrated and after its founder Leopold Levy called the synagogue of the Jewish community of Worms . It was the result of tension between conservative and progressive circles in the community.

prehistory

From 1824 to 1864 the conservative Jakob (Koppel) Bamberger worked as a rabbi for the Jewish community in Worms. In church life, however, a progressive faction was very strong. She got the community to hire a religion teacher and had the (old) synagogue modernized in the 1840s: the partition between the men's and women's synagogue and the Gothic bima were removed and the latter replaced in the form of an open platform. Overall, however, the balance in the community between a conservative direction and the progressive direction, which strived for further adaptation to the Christian environment, was preserved for decades.

After Rabbi Bamberger left the community, the progressive direction prevailed with the election of progressive rabbis ( Dr. Markus Jastrow , 1864–1866, and Dr. Alexander Stein , 1867–1910). The latter introduced the reformed rite service with an organ in 1877. The conservative wing of the community "fought" against the innovations by building their own synagogue.

building

The Levy Synagogue from the north

Geographical location

The building was built on the property at Judengasse 29, on the north side of the street, directly opposite the main entrance to the (now) Old Synagogue. The property and the building were donated by Leopold Levy, businessman and banker. He owned a warehouse for crops here.

architecture

The construction took place from 1870/71. The building was seamlessly integrated into the existing row of houses and built in a neo-Romanesque style. Conversion plans for the old synagogue from the 1860s were used. The front and rear facades were designed almost identically. In addition to the entrance in Judengasse, the synagogue also had a second entrance from the Graben. This connection broke for the first time the tradition that the central sites of the Jewish community were only accessible from Judengasse.

The facades were divided into three emphatically vertical fields, which were framed by pilasters . In the middle field was the simple portal and above it a transparent rosette. In the interior, the enormous height of the building was used for a gallery that ran all around as a gallery. An organ was not set up. The question of whether the service should take place with or without an organ was one of the controversial issues between conservatives and progressives. In other respects, too, emphasis was placed on strict furnishings.

history

The remains of the Levy synagogue after the war

The Levy Synagogue was a separate building, but it did not create a community of its own. Rather, it was a second place of worship for the conservative part of the community.

“If the Jewish community should ever separate in the city of Worms, the main community, i.e. the community that remains in the possession of the other community properties, should always remain the owner of the synagogue, but the separate community should never become this donation because of the emphatic will should never promote separation, but should promote unity in the community. "

- Leopold Levy : Point 5 of the notary's protocol on the donation of the Levy Synagogue to the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Worms in 1875.

In the community practice, the Levy synagogue was the place of the weekday worship service. It replaced the much too small Claus synagogue, originally the private synagogue of the Sinsheimer family. Over time, the Levy synagogue also became the place of worship for a number of different religious movements in the community, with a group of Polish Orthodox in the house at Zur Kante (Kanne), Judengasse 18, having another prayer room of their own.

In the November pogrom of 1938 the synagogue was devastated, but - unlike the old synagogue - it was not set on fire. Since it was inserted into a row of houses, the arson would inevitably have damaged neighboring buildings. It was only damaged in an air raid on February 21, 1945 . Since there was no longer a Jewish community in Worms after the Holocaust , the will to build it was concentrated on the medieval Old Synagogue and historicist buildings were not valued at the time, the ruins that still stood up to the gable were torn down in 1947. The city archivist and monument curator, Friedrich Maria Illert, wrote to the French military government on January 9, 1947 : “The new synagogue is a modern building from the 2nd half of the 19th century in Romanesque styles. ... It is worthless in terms of building history. A restoration is not planned. "

Today a residential house is built on the property. Two memorial plaques donated in 1990 commemorate the Levy synagogue and the donor family.

See also

literature

Memorial plaque in Judengasse 29
Memorial plaque on the old synagogue
  • Gerold Bönnen : Comments on the political, economic and social advancement and acculturation process of the Worms Jews (1816 to 1865) . In: Der Wormsgau 32 (2016), pp. 169–248.
  • Francis Leopold Levy: My parents' house . In: Der Wormsgau 16 (1992/1995), pp. 105–112.
  • Fritz Reuter : Leopold Levy and his synagogue from 1875. A contribution to the history and self-image of the Jews in Worms in the 19th century . In: Der Wormsgau 11 (1974/1975), pp. 58-68.
  • Fritz Reuter: Warmaisa: 1000 years of Jews in Worms . 3. Edition. Self-published, Worms 2009. ISBN 978-3-8391-0201-5
  • Fritz Reuter: Warmaisa - the Jewish Worms. From the beginning to Isidor Kiefer's Jewish Museum (1924) . In: Gerold Bönnen: History of the City of Worms . 2nd Edition. Theiss, Darmstadt 2015. ISBN 978-3-8062-3158-8

Web links

Commons : Levy'sche Synagoge Worms  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reuter: Warmaisa. 1000 years , pp. 146, 161.
  2. ↑ Reuter: Leopold Levy , p. 61.
  3. ↑ Reuter: Warmaisa - das Jewish Worms , p. 689
  4. ↑ Reuter: Leopold Levy , p. 64.
  5. ↑ Bönnen, p. 215.
  6. ↑ Reuter: Leopold Levy , p. 61.
  7. ^ Reuter: Warmaisa. 1000 years , p. 165.
  8. ^ Reuter: Warmaisa. 1000 years , p. 165.
  9. ↑ Reuter: Leopold Levy , p. 67
  10. ^ Reuter: Warmaisa. 1000 years , p. 139f.
  11. ^ Reuter: Warmaisa. 1000 years , p. 165.
  12. ↑ Reuter: Leopold Levy , p. 66.
  13. ^ Reuter: Warmaisa. 1000 years , p. 165.
  14. ↑ Stadtarchiv Worms: Department 6, letter Illert to the French military government, 9.1.1947 . December 31, 1977.
  15. ^ A symbol for more tolerance, Wormser Zeitung, August 15, 1990

Coordinates: 49 ° 38 '2.8 "  N , 8 ° 21' 59.2"  E