Synagogue (Eschwege)
The former synagogue Eschwege is a monument in the north Hessian district town Eschwege in the Werra-Meißner district . The former synagogue is now a New Apostolic Church .
building
The building of the synagogue was erected in 1838 as a two-storey, classical plastered brick masonry building based on a design by the Hessian master builder Johann Friedrich Matthei . The building has a hipped roof and a central projectile with a representative, four-column portico on the main facade. The windows were originally stained glass. The building offered 135 male and 75 female places.
history
The history of the Jewish community in Eschwege goes back to the 14th century. In 1692 the first synagogue was established. In 1835 there were 236 Jews in the city and the desire for a larger, new synagogue building grew. In 1837 the construction of the synagogue began on Cyriacusberg, today's Schulberg, on the edge of Eschweg's old town. At the same time, a new schoolhouse was built in the immediate vicinity for the Jewish elementary school founded in 1827 .
On December 14, 1838, the church was inaugurated by the Eschweger district rabbi Philipp Goldmann. The first restoration of the building took place in 1881 for the 50th anniversary in office, which Philipp Goldmann celebrated in the synagogue. In 1890 the city began to show signs of anti-Semitism and the synagogue windows were broken. During the November pogrom in 1938 , the interior of the building was devastated. In 1942 the Jewish community in Eschwege ceased to exist.
The synagogue and the neighboring school building were briefly used again by a Jewish community after the end of the Second World War , after a new Jewish community had formed in the Eschweger camp for displaced persons , which among other things housed concentration camp survivors from eastern Germany which existed until 1952.
In 1954 the New Apostolic parish acquired the building and converted it; a church room for 300 believers was created. In 1984 and again in 2004, the building was extensively renovated and rededicated in 2004 on the occasion of its 50 years of use by the community. Today it can accommodate over 400 believers. In addition to church services, the congregation also uses the house for gatherings of congregation members of all ages.
Commemoration
To commemorate the synagogue and the Jewish community, a memorial plaque is attached to today's New Apostolic Church. Opposite the former synagogue is the “Monument against Violence”, an abstract sculpture by the artist Christa K. Bayer, which is intended to remember all people who were persecuted, humiliated, despised and tortured. There are other memorial plaques at the former Jewish school and in the Eschweg town hall.
From 2009 to 2013, several stumbling blocks were laid in the city area in memory of Eschweg victims of the National Socialism .
Web links
- Jewish community and synagogue Eschwege on alemannia-judaica.de
- Jewish community Eschwege on Jewish communities.de
- New Apostolic parish Eschwege
Individual evidence
- ↑ specifications , werrataltourismus.de, called on March 3, 2016
- ^ Jewish DP community in Eschwege , accessed on March 3, 2016
- ^ " Synagogue in good hands ", Werra-Rundschau from September 21, 2004
- ↑ Photo and description of the monument against violence in Panoramio , accessed on March 3, 2016.
Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 16.9 " N , 10 ° 3 ′ 26.4" E