Kronach synagogue
The former synagogue on Johann-Nikolaus-Zitter-Straße in Kronach is a former Jewish house of worship, which today serves as a memorial and event space.
history
Jewish families had lived in Kronach since at least the 17th century and had set up their prayer and study room in a commercial building on the market square that was demolished in 1972 and, from 1711, in the private house at 25 Amtsgerichtsstrasse. These families belonged to the Jewish rural community in nearby Friesen ; In the city itself at that time there was no independent congregation and therefore no official synagogue. It was not until 1880, after the Jewish rural community of Friesen had gradually dissolved, as more and more rural Jews moved to the neighboring town, that an independent Jewish religious community was founded in Kronach and the planning for the construction of a synagogue began.
This was built in the years 1882/83 by the master builder Johann Baptist Porzelt and inaugurated on October 5th, 1883 in the presence of representatives from the city and government, Christian clergy and numerous citizens. After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists in 1933, the number of Kronach Jews shrank noticeably, as many fled abroad for fear of persecution and reprisals . The service in the Kronach synagogue could therefore only be continued until 1936. In February 1938 the building was finally sold to the city of Kronach and used as a medical depot and warehouse until 1988, which meant that it survived the November pogroms of 1938 unscathed, while the synagogue's equipment that had been moved to Bamberg was destroyed there.
Numerous structural changes were made to the building so that it could be used as a medical depot by the Red Cross: the entrance stairs were removed, the entrance portal was widened and the floor was lowered so that vehicles could be parked. The walls in the interior were tiled and a workshop pit was installed for the maintenance of the vehicles . A new wooden false ceiling created an upper floor in which offices, training rooms, lounges and storage rooms were accommodated. The apse was separated from the rest of the interior with an additional wall and used as an additional storage room.
After the Red Cross moved to a new building in 1972, the building was leased as a warehouse by the city of Kronach until 1988. Subsequently, several possibilities for the future of the former synagogue were discussed in public, including the demolition of the building. Since the debate did not lead to a tangible result for a long time, the “Action Group Kronacher Synagoge e. V. “with the aim of preserving the former synagogue from decay and, as far as possible, to restore it to its original state. The action group received moral support from Ignatz Bubis , then chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany , who visited Kronach on July 15, 1994. As a result, the city, as the owner, made the building available more and more often as a location for various events.
In the summer of 1998, the association's board of directors and the Kronach city council were able to agree to lease the building to the action group. Voluntary helpers removed a large part of the construction and renovations made for use as a medical depot and warehouse in autumn 1999 on the initiative of the action group and with the support of the International Building Order and numerous private and business people. The actual restoration work, which was financed with funding from the city and the country, contributions from association members and donations from the population and business, began on January 7, 2002. The entrance stairs were not reconstructed to enable barrier-free access to the building. The garage door built in for use as a medical depot was replaced by a modern portal, the proportions of which are reminiscent of the original entrance gate. The vestibule was rebuilt with the original dimensions and through a glazed sliding door allows an unobstructed view of the interior of the synagogue, which has been given new fittings. Some parts of the building, including the Torah shrine , were purposely not restored or modernized in order to document the eventful history of the building.
On October 4th, 2002, the restored building was reopened and rededicated with a ceremony attended by representatives from politics, the Christian churches, the Israelite religious community of Bamberg and numerous other guests of honor. Since there is no longer a Jewish community in Kronach, the synagogue has served mainly as a memorial and cultural event space since then.
swell
- Kronach synagogue. Action group Kronacher Synagoge e. V., accessed February 12, 2012 .
- Information board of the Lions Club Kronach on the building
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ House of Bavarian History (ed.): Kronach. (= Edition Bavaria. People - History - Cultural Space , Volume 6). Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-7917-2403-4 , p. 12.
Coordinates: 50 ° 14 ′ 22.8 ″ N , 11 ° 19 ′ 33 ″ E