In 2008, following an earlier suggestion by Paul Spiegel, then President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the Essen City Council decided to transform the Old Synagogue into a “House of Jewish Culture.” A new permanent exhibition was conceived, and the building refurbished. Two new exhibition levels were made accessible, and the offices […]
Approaching the former state – reconstruction of the interior
In 1986, the Torah roll shrine, the women’s gallery, and the tracery of the windows were reconstructed according to historical photographs; the false ceiling was removed and hanging lamps replicated: The architecture once again became visible to some extent. In Essen, as in all of Germany, the number of Jews increased fourfold after 1989 due […]
The Old Synagogue becomes a “memorial site”
In 1980, following a fire in the industrial design exhibition, the Old Synagogue was established as a “place of remembrance and commemoration.” A first exhibition on the theme of “resistance against fascism” was presented, albeit without reference to the history of the building. The first director, however, established contacts with Jewish emigrants, whom the city […]
The “House of Industrial Form” in the former synagogue
From 1960 to 1979—the period of the Wirtschaftswunder or “economic miracle”—the City of Essen exhibited chairs, fabrics, and lamps at the so-called “House of Industrial Form.” The women’s gallery and the Torah roll shrine are torn down and a false ceiling inserted, so that the cupola was no longer visible. A part of the city’s […]
The burnt-out synagogue building is falling into disrepair
After 1938, the synagogue was a burnt-out ruin with window cavities in the middle of the city. In 1953, the property is transferred to the Jewish Trust Corporation, the legal successor organization for abandoned Jewish community property in the British Zone. Stones fell from the façade. Between 1949 and 1959, the postwar community of roughly […]
Pogrome night in Essen: The synagogue burns
In the night of November 9 to 10, the synagogue was set on fire. The wooden benches were burned, the lead frames of the beautiful stained-glass windows melted, and the Torah scrolls were torn out of their shrine and thrown onto the square in front of the Old Catholic Peace Church. Many people watched in […]
Inauguration of the New Synagogue in Essen
The inauguration was a grand event for the aspiring metropolis. In the 1920s, five thousand Jews were members of the synagogue community in Essen. The majority was liberal: The synagogue had a large organ, the women’s gallery was not covered with wooden lattices and curtains as in orthodox synagogues, and some prayers were recited in […]
Construction of the New Synagogue in Essen
In 1911, the architect Edmund Körner planned a representative new synagogue building that was intended to express the integration and recognition of Jews in Germany during the Second Empire. Jewish families were already living in Essen in the Middle Ages, whereby their traces become lost in the sixteenth century. Jews lived continuously in the Rhineland, […]