Synagogue (North (East Frisia))
The former synagogue in Norden (East Friesland) existed from 1804 to 1938. During the November pogroms in 1938, local National Socialists destroyed the building. The associated Jewish community then dissolved. The last Jews left the city in October 1940.
Building description
In appearance, the synagogue was very similar to the Reformed Bargebur Church . Like them, it was a simple brick building with tall arched windows. It was provided with a hipped roof. There was an inscription above the entrance portal: Enter his gates with thanks, his courts with praise ( Ps 100.4 EU ). The year of construction was displayed in the middle. Above it was a memorial plaque with the names of the leaders of the congregation and the words Let your face shine on your sanctuary ( Daniel 9:17 EU )
The furnishings of the synagogue followed the traditional Sephardic style . The Torah shrine was located on the east side of the building . In the center of the building stood the Almemor , a desk on which the Torah is placed during the reading. The benches for the men stood lengthways along the side walls. Other items of equipment included large brass chandeliers like those found in many churches in the region.
history
The Jewish community from the north was one of the oldest in East Friesland. It is unclear when it was founded. The earliest evidence of a Jewish settlement in the north is a letter that the Jews of Emden and Nord sent to Countess Agnes von Hoya on September 17, 1577. The letter of protection for the northern Jew Meyer and his family is the oldest that has survived to this day. However, the community is likely to be much older. This emerges from a letter from the north resident court Jew Meyer Calmans to Princess Christine Charlotte . He wrote on August 22, 1669 that the Jews in Norden had leased a piece of land a hundred years ago to build a cemetery on it. This was the oldest Jewish cemetery in East Frisia .
When the congregation set up their first prayer room is unclear. In 1679 she acquired a house on the northern Judenlohne (today Synagogenweg / corner of Neuer Weg ), which she used as a synagogue (prayer room), school and residential building until 1804. A mikveh was also housed in the building. Perhaps the building was previously used as a rental prayer room / synagogue with a mikvah.
The Jewish community center was built around this house from 1804. It was located between Neuer Weg, the main shopping street from the north, and Uffenstrasse, which connects the market square with the old port. The property had belonged to the Jewish Bargerbuhr family since 1752. Construction of the synagogue (today: Synagogenweg 1 ) began in 1804 , for which the Prussian king granted 100 Reichstaler. The rest of the construction costs were financed by community members and non-Jewish donors from Aurich, Emden and Greetsiel.
November pogroms 1938
On the night of November 9-10, 1938, riots against the Jews, ordered by the Reich leadership of the National Socialists, also took place in Norden, which were later referred to as "Reichskristallnacht" or November 1938 pogroms . District manager Lenhard Everwien was woken up during the night by phone calls from his superiors in Oldenburg and Emden. He was ordered to hold all available forces ready for a reprisal against the Jews. At the same time, the northern fire brigade was informed about the planned action. It should not intervene and should limit itself to preventing the flames from spreading to surrounding houses. To ensure that, she was there before the arson attack. Together with two other SA members, Everwien organized petrol at a petrol station in North, while other SA members cordoned off the planned fire site. After a few unsuccessful attempts, the synagogue finally went up in flames and burned to the ground. The National Socialists shifted responsibility for this to the synagogue servant and the teacher Klein that night. The synagogue ruins were then handed over to a Northern junk dealer for the removal and recycling of the remains.
Post war and commemoration
After the war, the city of Norden renamed the former Jewish wages Synagogenweg in 1946. The square between Sandpfad and Judenstrasse, on which the synagogue and school had stood, was leveled and built over. In September 1985, a fragment of the synagogue's foundation wall was uncovered. The Ecumenical Working Group Synagogenweg was founded that same year and endeavored to set up a memorial at the site of the former synagogue. Two years later, the city of Norden bought the property and had a memorial set up there, in the center of which there is a memorial stone for the synagogue that burned down during the November pogrom. This was inaugurated during a "week of encounter" on June 21, 1987 in the presence of former Northern Jews and their relatives.
Further buildings in the former Jewish community center from the north
The buildings of the former Jewish community center from the north have largely been preserved except for the synagogue. This makes the ensemble unique in East Frisia.
In addition to the synagogue, the community at the Judenlohne (today: Synagogenweg 2) built another building in the same year (1804) with an apartment for a community employee (cantor or synagogue servant) as well as a room for community meetings, a secretariat, the warehouse for coffin wood and bier and a mikveh in the basement. In 1891 the community had the house rebuilt. The names of the community committee and building commission can be read next to the entrance door.
The neighboring house at today's Synagogenweg 3 was built by the community in 1891 as a teacher's house. The resistance fighter Recha Freier was born in this building on October 29, 1892. Next to the entrance door, the names of the community board and committee as well as the year of construction are carved into the stones. The name of Recha's father Cantor M. Schweitzer can also be read.
The former Jewish school is located at Synagogenweg 4. It was built in 1871 as an extension to the house at Neuer Weg 110. The school had a small school garden and the gym of the Northern Gymnastics Club was used for physical education classes.
The building on the site of the old synagogue (today Synagogenweg / corner Neuer Weg ) also belongs to the building stock of the former community center . This served the community as a school until 1871. In 1903, the community had the house demolished because it was in disrepair and rebuilt with a teacher's apartment on the upper floor.
See also
- List of synagogues destroyed in the German Reich from 1933 to 1945
- List of former East Frisian synagogues
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Daniel Fraenkel: North / Norderney. In: Herbert Obenaus (Ed. In collaboration with David Bankier and Daniel Fraenkel): Historical manual of the Jewish communities in Lower Saxony and Bremen . Wallstein, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-89244-753-5 , pp. 1122-1139.
- ↑ a b Alemannia Judaica: North (Aurich district, East Frisia) Jewish history / synagogue . Online at www.alemannia-judaica.de. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e Elke Kirsten, Equal Opportunities Officer of the City of North: A tour of the north . Norden, December 2015. Available online as a pdf ( Memento from August 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 41.2 ″ N , 7 ° 12 ′ 32 ″ E