Synagogue (Rohrbach)

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Former synagogue in Rohrbach
Foundation stone of the synagogue
entrance

The former synagogue at Heilbronner Strasse 43 in Rohrbach , a district of Sinsheim in the Rhein-Neckar district in northern Baden-Württemberg , was built in 1832/33. The building remained a synagogue until the dissolution of the local Jewish community in 1907 and then served as a school, civic hall and kindergarten, among other things. After 1967 it was an apartment building with storage rooms and stables. The building was extensively refurbished in 2004 to meet the requirements of listed buildings and is now used as a residential building.

History of the house of God

As early as 1769 it is reported that the Jewish residents of Rohrbach owned a house for worship ; The new synagogue was built on the foundations of this building in 1832 .

According to the plans of the master builder Friedrich Wundt , who also built the synagogue in Sinsheim and in 1824/25 the Protestant church in Rohrbach, the master bricklayer Johannes Mittel built the two-storey rectangular building with a gable roof . The arched windows, especially the two three-part so-called thermal bath windows in the two gables, sandstone walls and cornices as well as the recessed plastered area on the portal side give the architecture of the building a late Classicist character. The prayer room stretching over two storeys was on the south side of the building facing the courtyard, on its north side the ritual bath ( mikveh ) carried out by fountain master Anton Pfau . A staircase led to the first floor, where there was access to the women's gallery and a classroom. The synagogue was ceremoniously inaugurated at the beginning of September 1833. In 1870 it was completely renovated.

The Jewish community in Rohrbach lost many members through emigration and emigration . That is why it was finally closed and the synagogue building was bought by the municipality on March 6, 1907 for 2,000 marks.

History of profane use

The political community converted the building into a community hall in 1909. The Thoranic niche was walled up, the mikveh removed, walls moved and a false ceiling installed. The upper floor was used as a civic hall and classroom for the confirmands . During the First World War , Russian prisoners of war were quartered in the building. The room on the first floor was later used as a classroom and civic hall. A kindergarten was housed in the building from 1936 to 1945 . At that time, the windows that were once across the floor were divided towards the courtyard side. In 1967 the building came into private ownership. As a result, several small apartments as well as storage rooms and stables were set up in the building.

In 1999, the State Monuments Office commissioned a brief building history report, and later detailed building research on the building, which had been vacant for a long time. In 2003 a couple of restorers acquired the building in need of renovation and converted it into a single-family home. Most of the changes to the building since it was used as a synagogue were retained. Only the false ceiling was removed and a modern gallery was built in ; this created a large, light-flooded room that is reminiscent of the synagogue's former prayer room. Inside, some old pieces of equipment have been renovated, including floorboards, doors and wall paneling. 17 windows from the construction period were renewed while preserving the old glasses. The intensive preparation of the renovation with the help of a scientific colloquium, the accompaniment of the construction measures and the extensive documentation are considered exemplary in terms of monument conservation.

literature

  • Joachim Hahn and Jürgen Krüger : Synagogues in Baden-Württemberg . Volume 2: Joachim Hahn: Places and Facilities . Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, pp. 448–450, ISBN 978-3-8062-1843-5 ( Memorial book of the synagogues in Germany . Volume 4).
  • Silke and Ralph Böttcher: For the maintenance of synagogues in the urban area of ​​Sinsheim . In: Kraichgau. Contributions to landscape and local research , volume 21/2009, Heimatverein Kraichgau , Eppingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-921214-43-5 , pp. 253-262.
  • Claudia Baer-Schneider: What can you do with a former synagogue? - Three examples in the Rhein-Neckar district: The former synagogues in Ehrstädt, Rohrbach and Steinsfurt (City of Sinsheim). In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg, newsletter of the state preservation of monuments , volume 38, issue 2/2009, pp. 100-105.

Web links

Commons : Synagoge Rohrbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 15 ′ 5.5 ″  N , 8 ° 54 ′ 17.7 ″  E