New Synagogue (Eppingen)
The New Synagogue at Kaiserstraße 6 in Eppingen , a town in the Heilbronn district in northern Baden-Württemberg , was a synagogue that was built in 1872/73. It was destroyed by arson in 1938 and completely demolished in 1940.
history
The Jewish community of Eppingen celebrated its services for around 100 years in the synagogue at Küfergasse 2. Since this building no longer corresponded to the ideas of the time, it was decided to build a new representative synagogue in the then emerging school and authority district in Roth , in the immediate vicinity Neighborhood of the Protestant town church built a little later . The neighboring property of the evangelical church was higher, it towered over the synagogue with its church tower. Seldom has a synagogue been allowed to be built so close to a church.
That a plot of land for the new synagogue was planned in this quarter with the Catholic parsonage, the Protestant dean's office and city pastoral office , the Protestant church, the district court , the elementary school , the proreal high school , the trade school, the gymnasium, the official prison, the district savings bank, etc. the building fitted into the overall urban planning concept, suggests that at that time the Jewish citizens were integrated into small-town society.
In 1868 the Jewish community acquired the building site and had the building erected in 1872/73 according to the plans of the architect Wilhelm Lößlin.
Inauguration of the synagogue
The inauguration took place on Friday, October 31, 1873. A pageant moved from the old synagogue to the new one at 4 a.m., followed by the choirs and the Jewish school youth, followed by the district rabbis , then the synagogue council and the building commission of the Jewish community, which were joined by the porters of the Torah scroll and the invited guests. In front of the new synagogue, the key was handed over by the architect, and the harmonium played when entering through the portal . The festival sermon was held by the Sinsheim district rabbi David Geissmar . The festival program was musically accompanied by the girls 'and boys' choir and the men's and women's choir. During the Saturday service, the sermon was given by the Heidelberg district rabbi Hillel Sondheimer .
architecture
The single-aisled hall construction made of yellow sandstone , the Mühlbacher Werkstein , had a moderately steep gable roof . The gable faced Kaiserstraße, and the two minaret-like polygonal corner towers are an expression of the orientalized architecture that corresponded to the taste of the time. A low wall with an iron picket fence surrounded the slightly sloping property. The sandstone pillars between the fence sections were crowned.
facade
A two-wing portal, on both sides of columns with leaf capitals framed granted access. Since there was no separate entrance for women, one can speak of a more liberal Jewish community in Eppingen. The portal was spanned by an arched field with a skylight that rested on an architrave . Above it were three arched windows . The gable ended with a oculus and an arched frieze along the verge .
The entire building was divided by pilaster strips , and all arched windows had neo-Romanesque tracery . The high windows, five each on the long sides, were divided by a sill at the height of the gallery floor .
The main facade with a stepped portal, raised central window and the threefold structure of the entire gable shows the scheme of the basilica and is also an indication of the liberal attitude of the Jewish community.
inner space
In the east, opposite the entrance, was the Torah shrine in an apse-like bulge . The women's gallery , accessible through a staircase after the entrance on the left corner of the building, was located on the west side and the two long sides of the building.
Pogrom of November 10, 1938
A large part of the Jewish community in Eppingen emigrated because of Nazi discrimination or moved to larger cities. Although the synagogue already on 26 October 1938 at the neighboring Bezirkssparkasse Eppingen was sold, it was during the November pogroms set on fire on 10 November 1938th In 1940 it was completely demolished and the new Sparkasse headquarters was built on the same site in 1956.
The so-called “Reichskristallnacht” is described by the Eppinger lawyer Eduard Neckermann as follows: “On Thursday, November 10, 1938, a Jewish campaign was organized here in Eppingen in the form that the synagogue was set on fire (on the night of Wednesday 11/9/38 on Thursday 11/10/38) and that on 11/10/38 with the involvement and participation of the elementary school youth a raid was organized against the local Jews by placing them in local arrest by police officer Goll, with the mentioned youth behind the Jews ran up with sticks screaming and accompanied them to local arrest. The action was under the direction and leadership of Mayor Zutavern , the main teacher Stürz Eppingen and the clerk at the local court, Geiger. ” (Application by Eduard Neckermann from June 27, 1939; General State Archives Karlsruhe: inventory 465 a / Zntr.SPr.K. / B / Sv order number 855a; no. 465/61/23/3504)
Commemoration
On the initiative of the Protestant and Catholic parishes, a memorial plaque was attached to the retaining wall of the neighboring Protestant church in 1978 . On November 10, 2008, a plaque with the names of the murdered Jewish citizens of Eppingen was added to the same place.
See also
literature
- Joachim Hahn and Jürgen Krüger: Synagogues in Baden-Württemberg . Volume 2: Joachim Hahn: Places and Facilities . Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1843-5 , pp. 109–110 ( Memorial Book of Synagogues in Germany . Volume 4).
- Reinhard Hauke: On the “new synagogue” from 1872/73 . In: Heilbronner Voice from August 15, 1985.
- Peter Rückert: Eppingen . In: Franz-Josef Ziwes (Hrsg.): Baden synagogues from the time of Grand Duke Friedrich I in contemporary photographs . G. Braun, Karlsruhe 1997, ISBN 3-7650-8177-9 , pp. 60-61
- Jewish life in the Kraichgau. On the history of the Eppinger Jews and their families . Heimatfreunde Eppingen , Eppingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-930172-17-7 ( The special series . Volume 5). [with photos of the destroyed synagogue]
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 8 ′ 13.2 ″ N , 8 ° 54 ′ 23.9 ″ E