Synagogue (Meisenheim)

Synagogue in Meisenheim, east facade

Synagogue in Meisenheim

The synagogue in Meisenheim , a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate , was inaugurated in 1866. The building, which has been a listed building since 1982, is located at Saarstrasse 3.

history

The Jewish community in Meisenheim initially had a prayer room. Finally, in 1808, a synagogue was built in Lauergasse, which in the middle of the 19th century had become too small for the growing community. Therefore, in 1860, the Jewish community decided to build a new synagogue on Bleiche , today's Saarstrasse. The inauguration took place on August 17, 1866.

architecture

The synagogue was built according to the plans of the architect Heinrich Krausch . It had 160 seats and an organ . The six-axis hall building with a three-storey double tower facade was a representative structure.

Due to the hillside location, the building rises above a high basement. The portal side , clearly the front side, is made of hewn sandstone blocks. In contrast, the rest of the synagogue is made of rubble stone . The two towers overhanging the roof were not restored during the restoration, and some of the fixtures made after 1945 were not removed.

Above the entrance portal it says: How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your homes Israel ( Numbers 24 : 5).

time of the nationalsocialism

During the November pogrom in 1938 the synagogue was demolished, the doors, windows and large parts of the gallery were smashed. The two towers were demolished in 1940 in order to take back their eye-catching appearance. The cult building was used as a municipal warehouse during the Second World War .

Todays use

The synagogue has been a private storage room for grain, fodder and fertilizers since 1951. The remains of the galleries were removed, the windows walled up and false ceilings installed. The Meisenheim Synagogue's Association for Sponsors and Sponsors, founded in 1985, acquired the synagogue in 1986 and began restoration work. On November 9, 1988, fifty years after the November pogrom in 1938, the secular synagogue was opened to the public as a meeting place .

A permanent exhibition on Jewish history in the Nahe - Glan region is shown and the building has a lecture and concert hall and a library with literature on Judaism .

literature

Klaus-Dieter Alicke: Lexicon of the Jewish communities in the German-speaking area. Volume 2: Großbock - Ochtendung. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2008, ISBN 978-3-579-08078-9 ( online version ).
Stefan Fischbach, Ingrid Westerhoff: "... and this is the gate of heaven". Synagogues in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland . Published by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate , State Conservatory Office of the Saarland, Synagogue Memorial Jerusalem. Verlag Philipp von Zabern , Mainz 2005, ISBN 3-8053-3313-7 , pp. 265-268 ( memorial book of the synagogues in Germany 2).