Synagogue (stommeln)

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Synagogue in Stommeln (2011)

The synagogue in Stommeln , a district of Pulheim in the Rhein-Erft district in North Rhine-Westphalia , was built in 1881/82. It is located in the second row behind the house at Hauptstrasse 85. The building was preserved because it went out of use at the beginning of the 1930s and was then sold. The former synagogue has been protected as a monument since 1979 and is used by the city for cultural events, especially art exhibitions.

history

The Jewish community of Stommeln owned its first prayer house from 1831. As Moses Cahn, their headmaster, soon provided a piece of land and a sum of money, the first synagogue was built in 1832. The Jews from Sinnersdorf also came to Stommeln for the service .

As the congregation grew, reaching its highest number of members in 1861 with 78 people, a larger synagogue had to be built on the same site. It was inaugurated on August 11, 1882. In the course of liberalization, many members moved to the cities. Presumably in 1926, the last community leader moved to Cologne. At this time, no more church services could be celebrated, as the minimum number of ten religiously mature men ( minyan ) no longer came about.

time of the nationalsocialism

In May 1937 the Jewish community in Cologne sold the synagogue building as legal successor to the neighboring farmer, who used it as a shed. The Star of David on the facade was covered with mortar, and the buyer undertook not to use the building as a cattle shed out of consideration for its sacred past.

When SA men tried to set fire to the building on November 10, 1938 , the owner pointed out that the building that he now owned was no longer a synagogue. He saved the building from vandalism and demolition.

architecture

The synagogue has a floor area of ​​around 43 m², and on the west side there is a women's gallery with around 11 m². The built of field fire brick building with a hipped roof has a show facade on the south side, the neo-Roman having style elements, as a by yellow bricks remote means risalit with rundbogigem gable conclusion, the in the center of the Star of David is, as three arched windows and lozenges fries under the Roof cornice . Under the left arched window there is a narrow and unadorned entrance door. The Torah shrine in the middle of the east wall was flanked by two windows and raised by a small three-quarter window.

Todays use

In 1979 the municipality of Pulheim bought the former synagogue building and had it renovated extensively by 1983. The building was handed over to the public on October 2, 1983. It was initially included in the city's cultural program with contemplative and cultural events. In 1990/91 the artist W. Gies developed the exhibition project “Synagoge Stommeln” together with the then cultural director Gerhard Dornseifer. Since then, extraordinary exhibitions by important contemporary artists have taken place there, reflecting the omnipresent history of the place. As one of the very few synagogue buildings in the rural Cologne area, it is a memorial and memorial for the Jewish community of Stommeln and the fate of all German Jews.

See also

Web links

Commons : Synagoge (Stommeln)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • Elfi Pracht-Jörns : Jewish cultural heritage in North Rhine-Westphalia. Part 1: Cologne district (=  contributions to the architectural and art monuments in the Rhineland . Volume 34.1 ). Bachem, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7616-1322-9 , p. 209-213 .
  • Jews in stommeln. History of a Jewish community in the Cologne area. Part 1. (= Pulheim contributions to history and local history. Special publication 2.) Association for history and local history, Pulheim 1983, ISSN  0171-3426 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b City of Pulheim - Gerhard Dornseifer, Angelika Schallenberg: Art Projects / Synagoge Stommeln / art projects. Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit 2000, ISBN 3-7757-0999-1

Coordinates: 51 ° 1 ′ 11.1 ″  N , 6 ° 45 ′ 31.9 ″  E