Kirchhain synagogue

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Main facade on the torso of the former synagogue from the southwest. On the left in the background the rear wall of the attached modern building.

The Kirchhain synagogue is the structural remainder of the former synagogue of Kirchhain , a town in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse .

history

There is certain evidence of residents of the Jewish faith in Kirchhain since the end of the 16th century, church services of the congregation since 1629, which were held in private houses. Since the number of male, religiously responsible Jews was always quite small and there was always the risk that the quorum for a minyan was not reached, the services were celebrated together with the Jews from Amöneburg who had the same problem until 1712 . The Jewish school association continued to exist for both cities until 1879. 1754–1772 Kirchhain was also the seat of the regional rabbi of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel . Since the end of the 18th century, the Jewish community has been using rooms in the private house of a member of the community (today: Am Markt 5), which the community member had given to the community for this purpose under a contract but free of charge. In the second half of the 19th century, the buildings came into the ownership of the Jewish community, which used them until 1904. The buildings were then sold to a craftsman who converted them for his needs in such a way that structural traces of its use as a synagogue are not preserved.

synagogue

The strong growth of the community in the second half of the 19th century and the economic prosperity of many of its members created the basis for the construction of the synagogue. In 1899 a piece of land was purchased for this. Construction began in spring 1903 and the synagogue was inaugurated on August 17, 1904 by Rabbi Markus Horovitz from Frankfurt am Main . The architects were August Dauber and Otto Eichelberg from Marburg . The construction costs amounted to 38,000 marks . Opposite the synagogue, a parish hall was built that housed a teacher's apartment and the mikveh .

The neo-Romanesque style was chosen for the synagogue . The synagogue in Baden-Baden is said to have been the model . In its external shape, the Kirchhain Synagogue is very similar to the church buildings erected at the same time - right up to a two-tower facade . The “towers” ​​have been shortened, however. They wear tent roofs. Only these protrude beyond the gable of the west facade. The building material is reddish sandstone . The prayer room was almost square in plan and was closed off in the northeast by a choir . The women's gallery ran around on three sides and had a separate staircase on the south side, which branched off from a common entrance area. The synagogue was designed for 600 people. It had 80 seats for men and 100 for women.

destruction

In 1933 there were around 60 Jewish families in Kirchhain. During the November pogrom, the interior of the synagogue was devastated on November 8, 1938, but the building was preserved. On December 12th of the same year the Jewish community had to sell the synagogue to the political community for 3,000 marks . The town hall also took over the town hall. She sold both properties to private customers. The synagogue building survived the Second World War as a storage room. Subsequently, however, the owners demolished the eastern part of the building in 1945/46 and closed the torso with a brick wall. The new building immediately adjacent today was built in 1979/80. After repeated changes of ownership, the western torso was also to be torn down in 1975. But that failed due to the intervention of the district administration and the State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse , which placed the remains of the building under monument protection . Since then, the torso has been a cultural monument due to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . The remainder of the building is in private hands and is used for living. The parish hall, on the other hand, was demolished and the property was then used as a parking lot .

Commemoration

The synagogue is located behind Post 8 (actually: Römerstraße 8) in Kirchhain. On the 50th anniversary of the November pogrom, a memorial plaque was attached to the building in November 1988, the text of which reads: In memory of our persecuted, expelled and murdered Jewish fellow citizens. Until November 1938 this was the synagogue, the house of worship of the Jewish community in Kirchhain. On the 50th anniversary of its devastation. City of Kirchhain .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Klein: The former synagogues in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Pp. 46-51.
  2. ^ Helmuth K. Stoffers: Cultural monuments in Hessen. District of Marburg-Biedenkopf I. Municipalities of Amöneburg, Kirchhain, Neustadt and Stadtallendorf. Wiesbaden 2002. ISBN 3-8062-1651-7 , p. 222.
  3. ↑ Quoted from: NN: Kirchhain with Betziesdorf .

Coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′ 18.3 "  N , 8 ° 55 ′ 22.7"  E