Synagogue (Saffig)

Synagogue in Saffig, west facade

Synagogue in Saffig, west and south facade

The synagogue in Saffig , a local community in the Mayen-Koblenz district in Rhineland-Palatinate , is a secular synagogue that was built in the mid-19th century and devastated during the November pogroms in 1938 .

history

The Jewish community of Saffig initially had a prayer room and built a new synagogue on Klöppelsberg in the middle of the 19th century, the exact date is not known . The name of the architect is also not known. The former synagogue has been protected as a monument since 1984 .

time of the nationalsocialism

On November 10, 1938, the synagogue was devastated by SS men from Mayen and the inventory in front of the building was burned. On December 31, 1939, the synagogue was forcibly sold to the local community for 270 Reichsmarks and then used as a tool shed.

architecture

Inscription plaque at the Saffig synagogue

The gable- facing quarry stone building made of Krotzen lava is framed on the west facade by square corner pilasters and a three-arched, staggered frieze . A stepped gable made of field bricks completes the facade. Above the arched portal with two-winged wooden door there is an inscription plaque and above it a window that is now closed and above it an arched window with a Star of David inscribed. The text of the Hebrew inscription is repeated in German in the border of the tablet. It reads: Here is the gate of the Eternal. The righteous will walk through it ( Psalm 118 : 20). There are two arched windows on each side of the eaves and a coupled arched window and an ox-eye in the gable triangle are located in the east wall . The six by ten foot tall interior is decorated with cross vaults covered, on corner or wall piers rest. The women's gallery was reconstructed.

Current condition

In July 1986 the Förderkreis Synagoge eV Saffig bought the building and extensively restored it until 1991. Today the synagogue is a memorial and is used for cultural events.

For several years now, church services and events of the Neuwied-Mittelrhein Jewish Community have been taking place in the building .

literature

"... and this is the gate of heaven". Synagogues in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland . Edited by Stefan Fischbach u. a., ed. from the State Office for Monument Preservation Rhineland-Palatinate u. a., Mainz 2005, ISBN 3-8053-3313-7 , pp. 330–332 (Memorial Book of Synagogues in Germany, Vol. 2).