Synagogue (Wittmund)

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Memorial plaque at the site of the demolished synagogue at Kirchstrasse 12

The former synagogue in Wittmund was opened by the local community on February 9, 1816 and used it until the Nazi era . Due to ongoing repression, the number of parishioners continued to decline, so that the parish sold the building to the merchant E. Cornelius in June 1938. This had it canceled before the November pogroms .

Building description

The synagogue in Wittmund was a roughly 71 m² rectangular, simple hall building, which was insured for 5000 marks with the Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Brandkasse . The one-story building was 10.30 m long, 6.90 m wide and about 8 m high. Its outer walls were made of red bricks. On the east side on the street front between the two windows there was a stone tablet with the biblical words "And you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy people for me" ( Exodus 19.6  EU ). There were five tall windows in the north wall. The interior was entered through an entrance on the south side. It offered space for 70 to 80 people. The bima stood in the center between two rows of benches . The women's gallery was on the west side. The cupboard in which the congregation kept their Torah scroll stood between the windows on the east side. The most precious items of equipment included a chandelier and an altar ceiling, which Philip Neumark donated to his community on the occasion of his 71st birthday.

history

The Wittmund Jewish community was the oldest in Harlingerland . Presumably the Jews from other places in the region also belonged to the community in Wittmund, whose cemetery they shared. Initially, the congregation held its services in one of the Jewish houses, which also served as a school. Outwardly its sacred purpose could not be recognized. When this building was in danger of collapsing at the beginning of the 19th century, the community decided to build a new synagogue. The community leader Abraham Arends Neumark wanted to finance this new building from a house collection. The local authorities rejected this. The civil governor of the general government between the Weser and the Rhine , Ludwig von Vincke, finally approved the collection on April 1, 1815 for a period of eight weeks. Financing was secured so that the community, which at that time also included the Jews living in Carolinensiel and Altfunnixsiel, was able to build a simple synagogue, which it inaugurated on February 9, 1816.

In 1866, the community celebrated the 50th anniversary of the synagogue with members of the surrounding Jewish communities. The Wittmund Liedertafel also took part in the service.

The community used the synagogue until the Nazi era . In 1933 there were still 41 Jews living in Wittmund. The number of parishioners continued to decline due to ongoing repression. The last preacher, teacher and cantor, Abraham Straßfeld, emigrated to the USA with his family on March 27, 1935. The municipality, which was about to be dissolved, sold the building to the merchant E. Cornelius in June 1938. This had it broken off soon after, so that it no longer existed in the pogrom night on November 10, 1938. Until 1940 the National Socialists expelled or deported the last Jews from Wittmund.

According to contemporary reports, a parishioner buried the Torah scroll in the Jewish cemetery.

A commemorative plaque in Kirchstrasse 12 reminds of the location of the demolished synagogue. The outlines of the synagogue are marked by black basalt stones.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edzard Eichenbaum (ed.): The Wittmund Synagoge - Against forgetting . In: Heimatverein Wittmund e. V. Local history sheets , Wittmund 2005, issue 2
  2. ↑ a b c Daniel Fraenkel: Wittmund. In: Herbert Obenaus (Ed.): Historical manual of the Jewish communities in Lower Saxony and Bremen . Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-89244-753-5 ; Pp. 1567-1573
  3. ^ Alemannia Judaica: Wittmund (Wittmund district, East Friesland) Jewish history / synagogue . Online at www.alemannia-judaica.de. Retrieved January 9, 2019.

Coordinates: 53 ° 34 ′ 33.9 "  N , 7 ° 46 ′ 51.1"  E