Synagogue Kriegshaber

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The former synagogue Kriegshaber (2015)

The Kriegshaber Synagogue is the oldest surviving synagogue in Bavarian Swabia . For almost three hundred years it formed the center of the Jewish community in Kriegshaber , a formerly independent place at the gates of the free imperial city, today a district of Augsburg . The profaned church is located at Ulmer Straße 228 and has been a branch of the Jewish Culture Museum Augsburg-Swabia since its renovation in 2011-2014 .

location

The synagogue is located in the old town center of Kriegshaber as part of the listed ensemble for the former Jewish settlement. It is located on Ulmer Straße, on the north side of the street, near the intersection of Ulmer Straße with Kriegshaberstraße and Neusässer Straße.

history

The first Jewish citizens in the hamlet of Kriegshaber have been mentioned since around 1565/1570. They were able to settle here on the Reichsstraße (Ulmer Straße) leading from Augsburg via Günzburg to Ulm , where they were under the protection of the Margraviate of Burgau in the western part of Austria .

The Kriegshaber Synagogue replaced a smaller prayer room that had been in use until then and was first mentioned in 1675. According to other written records, it has been used for church services since 1680 .

Around 1730 there were already 326 Jewish people living in Kriegshaber, which represented more than 50 percent of the population. While the place grew bigger and bigger in the following 150 years, its Jewish community got smaller and smaller. In the middle of the 19th century, plans were made to build a new synagogue, as the old rooms had become too cramped and dilapidated. After a plan had been drawn up and approved, however, it was not carried out because the number of Jewish community members had meanwhile fallen sharply. As a result, the old synagogue was renovated and expanded in 1862.

In 1866–68 the Catholic parish church of the Holy Trinity was built diagonally across from the synagogue .

During the November pogroms in 1938 , the synagogue remained almost intact and therefore served as the community center for Jews in Augsburg for the next few years. The synagogue in the center of the city had become unusable as a result of the pogroms.

Building description

The synagogue is a two-story eaves side building with a gable roof , high arched windows and an eastern bay window. The synagogue is adjoined to the west by a narrow pent roof house. The actual synagogue ( prayer room ) is on the first floor of the building. This hall has a barrel vault and a gallery running around on three sides , which can be reached via a staircase (outside the prayer hall). Since the renovation, there are three doors on the south side of the building . All three doors are in the western part of the synagogue. The easternmost door is the access to the former rabbi apartment . The westernmost door is today's entrance to the synagogue. The old door to the synagogue is located between the door of the rabbi's apartment and today's entrance.

Profanation and decay

Before the renovation (2005)

After the end of the Second World War , the synagogue was repurposed and used as a warehouse and prayer room for other faiths. In 1955, the city of Augsburg acquired the building. It then stood empty for a long time and was left to decay, as no financial means were granted for a new use as a prayer house.

Redevelopment

In 2004 the intermediate building to the west was purchased and a renovation concept was then developed. In 2011, the sometimes very complex renovation work began. After three years of construction, the former synagogue was officially opened on May 18, 2014 as a branch of the Jewish Culture Museum Augsburg Swabia. The rooms in the synagogue are repeatedly used for exhibitions or training courses.

  • Facade after the renovation

  • Sink niche next to the entrance

  • Foundation imprint of the Bima under a walkable glass pane

  • Barrel vault with painting

Web links

Commons : Synagoge Kriegshaber  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Benigna Schönhagen (Ed.): "Ma Tovu ...". "How beautiful are your tents, Jakob ..." Synagogues in Swabia . Franz Schiermeier Verlag, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-943866-24-7 , pp. 26–29 (accompanying volume to the traveling exhibition “Ma Tovu…”. “How beautiful are your tents, Jakob…” Synagogues in Swabia of the Jewish Culture Museum Augsburg-Swabia and the Network of Historical Synagogue Places in Bavarian Swabia).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ City of Augsburg - Former synagogue extensively renovated ( Memento from June 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ WEB site of the Jewish Culture Museum Augsburg-Swabia. Jewish Culture Museum Augsburg-Schwaben, accessed on February 13, 2018 (German).

Coordinates: 48 ° 22 '47.4 "  N , 10 ° 51' 4.6"  E