New Synagogue (Poznan)

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New Synagogue in Poznan
Model of the original building

The New Synagogue on Wronker Square in Posen (Polish: Poznań ), the capital of the Greater Poland Voivodeship in Poland , was built between 1906 and 1907 and was inaugurated on September 5, 1907. The synagogue had space for 1200 believers. At that time there were 5,324 Jews living in the city, which was only about 3.8% of the city's population. The building, built by the community for around 850,000 Reichsmarks, was therefore unusually imposing and actually disproportionate. The Berlin architectural office Cremer & Wolffenstein was commissioned . The two Berliners were considered the leading architects of synagogue construction in Germany around 1900. The Moorish-Neo-Romanesque style of the church, which is strongly reminiscent of a church, was intended to express the efforts of the Jewish citizens to show their cultural affiliation to Germany. As a result, this choice of style, based on the neo-Romanesque style of the new Poznan Imperial Forum (Franz Schwechten, 1905–1913), was expressly touted at the inauguration ceremony in the presence of high-ranking Prussian officials as a declaration of affiliation with Germany and the ruling house.

When Posen became Polish again in 1919, almost all of Poznan's Jews emigrated to Germany. The building remained unused in the interwar period .

The synagogue building was initially supposed to be demolished, but was converted into a swimming pool for convalescent Wehrmacht soldiers during the German occupation in World War II and used as a swimming pool until 2010. The interior was destroyed, the high dome was removed, the red brick facade was plastered, and the two round towers facing the street disappeared. Today the building is again owned by the Jewish community.

The question of usage remains unresolved. With only around 50 members, the Jewish community is too small to use the building as a synagogue. It is currently planned to convert the greater part of the former synagogue into a luxury hotel. The exterior of the building is not to be restored to its original neo-Romanesque form, but rather to be considerably redesigned.

literature

Web links

Commons : New Synagogue (Poznan)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/kunst_architektur/pool-ohne-davidstern-1.18518108
  2. ↑ a b Joanna Kupczyk: Celebrated bourgeoisie - The small Jewish community in Posen felt connected to the German culture during the Wilhelmine era [...] In: Tachles - The Jewish weekly magazine (special supplement: Jüdische Studien Basel) . Jewish Media, Zurich September 2014, p. 6th f .
  3. ↑ Sarah M. Schlachetzki, Pool without Star of David, NZZ from April 9, 2015 ( https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/kunst_architektur/pool-ohne-davidstern-1.18518108 )

Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 39 ″  N , 16 ° 56 ′ 6.5 ″  E