Fraenkelufer synagogue
| Fraenkelufer synagogue | |
|---|---|
 Building complex of the Jewish community on Kottbusser Ufer , |
|
| Start of building: | 1912 |
| Inauguration: | September 17, 1916 |
| Architect : | Alexander Beer |
| Style elements : | Neoclassicism with elements of earlier architectural styles |
| Client: | Jewish community in Berlin |
| Space: | 2000 people |
| Location: | 52 ° 29 '45 " N , 13 ° 25' 1" E |
| Address: | Fraenkelufer 10-16 Berlin-Kreuzberg Berlin , Germany |
| Purpose: | Conservative Judaism Synagogue |
| Website: | fraenkelufer.de |
The synagogue on Fraenkelufer in Berlin 's Kreuzberg district was built as an Orthodox synagogue between 1913 and 1916 according to plans and under the direction of the master builder of the Jewish Community of Berlin , Alexander Beer , on Kottbusser Ufer 48–50, today's Fraenkelufer 10–16 . In the November pogroms of November 9th to 10th, 1938, the main building of the synagogue was badly damaged and, after further damage, had to be demolished in 1958/1959 at the end of the Second World War . Today the surviving outbuilding, previously used for the youth service, is used as a conservative synagogue after renovation . A complete reconstruction of the synagogue in Berlin-Kreuzberg that was destroyed by the National Socialists is being planned.
history
1913–1933: Building and Living in the Weimar Republic
The Jewish master builder Alexander Beer designed the neoclassical synagogue in 1912 after the Jewish community acquired the site in 1911. Construction work began a year later and the inauguration took place on September 17, 1916. With over 2000 seats, this synagogue was one of the largest in Berlin. In addition to the main prayer hall, the building complex also had a weekday synagogue, a hall for youth worship, a wedding hall, and meeting and living rooms. In 1925 the Jewish community opened a kindergarten and after-school care center and in the following years a youth home and a holiday playground on the site. Twice a week there was also an afternoon religious school.
The rabbi of the synagogue from its inauguration until 1932 was Isidor Bleichrode . He was replaced by Rabbi Julius Jakobovits . The composer and collector of synagogue music Arno Nadel officiated as cantor and choir director.
1933–1942: The synagogue under National Socialism
The systematic social and economic exclusion and expropriation of the Jews by the National Socialists resulted in poverty and material hardship. The Jewish community tried to provide help through welfare offices and a Jewish Winter Aid distribution point , which were located in this building complex. In 1935 a welfare kitchen was set up in the basement of the synagogue.
As early as 1930 the synagogue was smeared with swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans. Like many other buildings belonging to the Jewish community , this synagogue was set on fire during the November pogroms in 1938 . Since the synagogue was adjacent to a city school, the fire brigade and police kept the spread of the flames in check. The synagogue was badly damaged, but not destroyed. The main prayer hall could no longer be used as a synagogue. From December 1938 to October 1942, the congregation therefore held its services in the youth synagogue in the side wing of the building instead. Since only seven Berlin synagogues were reopened after the November pogroms, other congregations in the neighborhood also held their services in the building.
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After Rabbi Julius Jakobovits emigrated to Great Britain, where his son Immanuel Jakobovits later became Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Georg Kantorowski, Rabbi Regina Jonas and Rabbi Martin Riesenburger occasionally officiated in the synagogue.
At the end of 1941 the building was used to store looted Jewish property. At the beginning of 1942 the Gestapo occupied the entire property and used it to park military vehicles. In a bombing raid on Berlin in 1944 there was further destruction , in 1958/1959 the main building was finally demolished.
Reopening in 1945
Immediately after the war, the youth synagogue was the first synagogue in Berlin to be restored in time for Rosh Hashanah , the Jewish New Year celebrations, in September 1945. This is mainly thanks to the initiative of the American soldier Harry Nowalsky . The Jewish Hungarian-American war photographer Robert Capa immortalized this special moment in a series of pictures for Life magazine . Some of these pictures have been exhibited in the synagogue since 2016. In the following years, wedding ceremonies , bar mitzvas and religious instruction took place in the synagogue.
In 1985, around 25 Torah curtains from various synagogues were found hidden in the attic and then restored. Some of them can be viewed today in the synagogue on Fraenkelufer.
A memorial stone by Cornelia Lengfeld erected on the property boundary in 1989 reminds of the destruction in the past. The building is a listed building . A memorial plaque on the bank shows the earlier construction and tells the story of the destruction.
The community since its rededication in 1959
On April 22, 1959, the former side wing of the synagogue was consecrated again after renovation work on the side wing and has been used for prayers and community life since then. There, rabbis of different orientations hold office alternately, from liberal to orthodox. In the beginning, the community of prayer consisted of survivors and returnees. Many of them lived and worked in the immediate vicinity of the synagogue. Over the years, immigrants from different countries also came. In the 1980s and 1990s, immigrants came mainly from the former Soviet Union. From the mid-2000s, the prayers became even more diverse and international: Many young Israelis, North and South Americans, people from different European countries and beyond made Kreuzberg and Neukölln - and with it the Fraenkelufer Synagogue - their home.
In 2012 the Friends of the Fraenkelufer Synagogue was founded. V called into being by prayers in order to actively shape community life and to organize cultural and educational events. The community has grown so much that the reconstruction of the original synagogue building as a Jewish community and cultural center is now planned.
Planned reconstruction
In Berlin-Kreuzberg, the synagogue is to be completely rebuilt. A complete reconstruction of a synagogue in Berlin that was destroyed by Nazis would be unique.
On the initiative of the SPD politician Raed Saleh , the Förderverein Jüdisches Zentrum Synagoge Fraenkelufer e. V. and founded a board of trustees that will take care of the reconstruction. The 20-person committee attaches importance to the fact that the new synagogue is based on the architectural style of the previous building. In addition to Saleh u. a. Monika Herrmann , Michael Müller as well as representatives of the Jewish community and Muslim communities and people from business and the media. In order to actually make progress, donations must first be raised and the population's understanding of this reconstruction must be deepened, especially in times of increasing anti-Semitism. The laying of the foundation stone is planned for 2023, 85 years after the destruction in the pogrom night. Completion is planned for the 110th anniversary of the synagogue in 2026.
architecture
The synagogue comprised a complex of a main building with several auxiliary buildings on a triangular building site, in which a weekday synagogue, official apartments and a building for the youth service were housed. Accordingly, it was not only intended to serve as a church service, but also as a community center and was used in this way in the early years.
The synagogue building consisted of a three-aisled structure that offered space for 2000 people. It was built as a pillar basilica , the facade facing the Landwehr Canal was structured with windows in the upper storey. As an architectural style, Beer chose a neoclassical style with elements from medieval and baroque buildings; a large portico with four Greek columns represented the dominant three-part entrance area.
The smaller synagogue for young people is structured by Doric half- columns. By the end of the 1970s, its facade was painted green and white. It is only about half as high as the actual church and adorned its left side.
literature
- Hans-Jürgen Mende, Kurt Wernicke (ed.): Berlin district lexicon Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. Haude & Spencer, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-7759-0474-3 .
- Rolf Bothe (Ed.): Synagogues in Berlin. Part 1. Verlag Willmuth Arenhövel, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-922912-04-4 .
- The new buildings of the synagogue on Kottbuser-Ufer in Berlin. In German construction newspaper. 50, 1916, pp. 329-332, 337-339.
- Daniela Gauding, Christine Zahn: The Fraenkelufer Synagogue. Hentrich & Hentrich Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-941450-00-4 .
- 100 years of the synagogue on Fraenkelufer. A century of Jewish life in Kreuzberg, 1916–2016. Brochure accompanying the exhibition, Friends of the Fraenkelufer Synagogue e. V., Berlin 2016.
Web links
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List with further information
- Fraenkelufer Synagogue: old views, historical details , on zeit-fuer-berlin.de .
Individual evidence
- ^ Synagogue Fraenkelufer .
- ^ Berlin-Kreuzberg: Synagogue destroyed by the Nazis is to be rebuilt. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved August 8, 2018 .
- ↑ aufbruch-am-ufer.berlin
- ↑ Board of Trustees supports synagogue construction. In: Berliner Zeitung . February 19, 2019, p. 11.
- ↑ Andreas Hergeth: Under the sign of reconstruction . In: The daily newspaper . May 11, 2019, p. 41, 44–45 ( taz.de [accessed June 21, 2019]).
- ↑ Floor plan and sectional views of the synagogue , accessed on June 22, 2019.