Synagogue (Haguenau)

The Haguenau synagogue in 2011

The synagogue of Haguenau , a French city in the historical region of Alsace , is a still from the Jewish community occupied church . The synagogue has been a protected architectural monument ( Monument historique ) since 1984 .

Previous buildings

The existence of a synagogue in Haguenau is documented as early as the 14th century. The first known building was on what was then Rathausplätzel, today's Place de la République, and was confiscated in 1349 after the Jews were expelled. The second was built after 1354 on a plot of land that had previously been a Christian chapel. Today this property has the address rue de Sel 8. This second synagogue fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in 1492. In 1676 it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt, as evidenced by a record that is kept in the current synagogue.

The structure still in use today

After the Jews had received equal rights both as citizens and as religious communities towards the end of the 18th century, numerous new and representative synagogues were built in Alsace . The parish in Haguenau is also an example of this phenomenon: in 1820 the square in the Rue de Sel was finally abandoned and the new synagogue was built in the current Rue du Grand Rabbin Joseph Bloch 3 in the classicism style according to the plans of the architect Léopold. The synagogue was built mainly from sandstone blocks and had basket arch vaults. It was decorated with sculptures, pilasters and stained glass.

In 1869 a dispute broke out in the community because the harmonium , which was played in the synagogue for Lecha Dodi , was to be replaced by an organ, which conservative community members rejected. It was not until 1876 that the magazine Der Israelit reported : "We are pleased to hear that peace has been restored within the Jewish community in Haguenau."

This building was damaged in the Second World War , but restored after the war. In 1959 this work was finished. The Haguenau synagogue is one of the largest and oldest surviving synagogues in Alsace. It has been a listed building since 1984. It is considered to be barrier-free.

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  Drawing by Elie Scheid from the 19th century

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  Entrance front

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  in 2007, with a new wall

literature

• Yaakov Bentolila: Un message crypte dans l'inscription synagogale de Haguenau. Revue des Etudes Juives, 155 / 3-4 (1996), pp. 461-468.
• Jean Daltroff: La route du judaïsme en Alsace . ID-L'Édition, 2nd edition, Bernardswiller 2010, ISBN 2-915626-02-2 , p. 44.

Web links

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

• History of the buildings and dispute about the organ, texts in alemannia judaica
• Images and data (French text)
• Architectural information (French text)
• Description as Monument historique at the Ministry of Culture (French text)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Susanne Tschirner: Alsace. DuMont Reiseverlag, 1998, ISBN 9783770136278 , p. 173. Restricted preview in the Google book search

Coordinates: 48 ° 48 ′ 50.2 "  N , 7 ° 47 ′ 27"  E