Synagogue (Bad Mergentheim)

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Interior view of the synagogue in Bad Mergentheim, drawing by Hermann Fechenbach (1919), at the Baden-Württemberg State Archives

The former synagogue in Bad Mergentheim (formerly Mergentheim ) was built in 1764 at Holzapfelgasse 15 by the Jewish financial agent of the Teutonic Order, Baruch Simon. A renovation and extension took place in 1912. Desecrated during the November pogrom in 1938, it was restored in 1946 and demolished in 1957/1975.

history

Prayer room in the Salomon house (1656)

In 1656 there was a prayer room in the house of the Jew Solomon, against which the then mayor and the town clerk protested. Nevertheless, with the renewal of the letter of protection for the Jew Salomon on May 1, 1658, the monastic government allowed the unrestricted use of the Jewish school and the Jewish worship service in Bad Mergentheim. In 1728 the Jews in Mergentheim asked permission to expand the prayer room, the house meanwhile owned by the Jew Wolf.

Synagogue near the Baruch Simon house (1764)

Construction 1762–1764 and expansion in 1912

The synagogue at Holzapfelgasse 15 in Bad Mergentheim was built by Baruch Simon (* 1722 in Oedheim), who acquired the property and house from Georg Adam Pollack in 1759. Simon had a new three-story manorial house built on the site with a beautiful entrance gate and in 1762 asked the Teutonic Order government for permission to build a synagogue in the back yard of his house. The then Catholic pastor Johann Nicolaus Kechel raised an objection. Nevertheless, the Teutonic Order government granted the building permit on September 22nd, 1762, as Baruch Simon and his brother Moses Simon were the financial agents of the Teutonic Order. In 1764 the synagogue in the back yard was completed. Baruch Simon's house later served as a rabbi house. In 1912 the synagogue was expanded in the Art Nouveau style and the outside and inside were rebuilt.

Desecration in 1938

The synagogue was broken into in the pogrom on November 10, 1938 . The Torah shrine was smeared with pork, the mikveh was used as a sewer. However, since there was a risk that a neighboring building could be damaged by flying sparks, there was no arson. The building was sold to a cinema owner in 1943.

Restoration in 1946

In the post-war period, the synagogue key was given to the American military rabbi Kahane, the synagogue was reconstructed through the efforts of Julius Fechenbach and re-consecrated on September 15, 1946. After the establishment of the State of Israel, the Jewish displaced persons moved away and the synagogue had to be closed again in 1949.

cancellation

In July 1949 the construction of the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO) was entrusted to it, which sold it on November 17, 1949 to a company that used it as a warehouse. In 1956 the Catholic diocese of Rottenburg acquired the synagogue building, which had remained completely intact, and had it demolished the following year, although the rabbinical house was retained. In 1964, the diocese gave the synagogue property with the rabbi house still standing on it to the Franciscan Sisters of Sießen , who built the St. Bernhard elementary school and girls' secondary school on it. The former rabbi's house was demolished in 1975, but the archway with the original gate grate was recovered. These were built into the front of the St. Bernhard Realschule in 1988.

Commemoration

A bronze memorial plaque is located in the back yard of the St. Bernhard secondary school, instead of the former entrance to the synagogue. The facade of the former synagogue is depicted around the plaque in red sandstone. The information and memorial boards were first erected in 1983 and repositioned in 2001.

literature

Web links

Commons : Synagogue  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From 1926 the town of Mergentheim was called Bad .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Alemannia Judaica: Bad Mergentheim (Main-Tauber district) Jewish history / prayer hall / synagogue . online at www.alemannia-judaica.de, accessed on February 25, 2018

Coordinates: 49 ° 29 '30.2 "  N , 9 ° 46' 17.3"  E