Gürzenich Synagogue

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Ruins of the Gürzenich synagogue. Recording: January 1st, 1938

The Gürzenich Synagogue was located in the Gürzenich district of Düren on Dorfstrasse, today Schillingsstrasse 276.

The first Jews in Gürzenich can be traced back to 1653 . The first prayer room was in a private house at the end of the market. Since it had to be demolished in 1903 due to dilapidation , the hall of a restaurant was rented. Only years later could a plot of land for the construction of a synagogue be bought. This new synagogue was inaugurated on September 7, 1906. Above the front door it read in Hebrew : “Come and bow down before the Lord”.

The Christian citizens are also said to have financed the new building through donations. This fact probably shows that the Jewish minority was part of the village society.

The "Dürener Volkszeitung" wrote about the inauguration:

“Gürzenich, September 8th, 1906 - Yesterday the newly built synagogue was handed over to the Israelite community with a large number of fellow believers from near and far. In the festive procession with music, the Betsale, which had previously been used after the demolition of the old synagogue, was moved into the new synagogue. The speech was given by Mr Dublon from Aachen. Today and tomorrow there will be festivities in the Hilden restaurant on the part of the local Israelite community. "

In the November pogrom of 1938 on November 10, 1938, the building, unlike the Düren synagogue , was not burned down, otherwise the neighboring houses would also have burned down. The Gürzenich Synagogue was demolished. This took about a month. The stones were used as paving stones.

See also

literature

  • Regina Müller: Bringing Home and Life , Düren 1989, p. 96
  • Elfi Pracht : Jewish Cultural Heritage in North Rhine-Westphalia , Part I: Cologne District, p. 93

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 47 ′ 14.1 ″  N , 6 ° 26 ′ 14.8 ″  E