The Alte Synagoge (Old Synagogue) in
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, is one of the best preserved medieval
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s in Europe, its oldest parts dating back to the late 11th century. Most parts of the building date from around 1250–1320.
[Permanent Delegation of Germany to UNESCO (2015]
Old synagogue and Mikveh in Erfurt - UNESCO world heritage centre
Retrieved 4 June 2017 It is thought to be the oldest synagogue building intact to its roof still standing in Europe.
Retrieved 31 October 2016
Since 2009 it has been used as a museum of local Jewish history. It houses the
Erfurt Treasure
The Erfurt Treasure is a hoard of coins, goldsmiths' work and jewellery that is assumed to have belonged to a Jew of Erfurt, Germany who hid them in 1349 before perishing in the Erfurt massacre, one of the persecutions and massacres of Jews dur ...
, a hoard of medieval coins, goldsmiths' work and jewellery found in 1998.
[Jewish life in Erfurt. Erfurt Treasure]
Retrieved 3 June 2017 It also has facsimiles of the Erfurt Hebrew Manuscripts, an important collection of 12th-14th century religious texts that belonged to the medieval Jewish community of Erfurt.
Retrieved 4 June 2017
The ''Historic Synagogues of Europe'' project, carried out by the
Center for Jewish Art
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
, has given the Old Synagogue, Erfurt its highest level of significance rating: 4 (International) – "The building is of outstanding architectural, urban or historical importance. It has unique features and/or is especially influential internationally as an architectural pattern."
In 2015 it was proposed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
History and Preservation
The oldest parts of the building have been dated by
dendrochronology
Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...
to 1094. There was a second construction phase in the 12th century, from which part of the western wall, with a sandstone double-arched window, has been preserved.
Around 1270, a larger synagogue incorporating parts of the earlier building was constructed. The western
façade
A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'.
In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...
, with five lancet windows and a large rosette window, dates from this time. In the early 1300s, it was extended and another storey was added.
After the
Erfurt Massacre
The Erfurt massacre was a school shooting that occurred on 26 April 2002 at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium, a secondary school in Erfurt, Germany. 19-year-old expelled student Robert Steinhäuser shot and killed 16 people, including 13 staff members, ...
of 1349, in which the Jewish population was murdered and expelled from the city, the synagogue was damaged. The city of Erfurt took ownership of the building and later sold it to a local merchant. It was converted into a warehouse and a vaulted cellar was built underneath. The alterations considerably changed the interior of the building. For the next 500 years it was used for storing goods.
From the 19th century, the building had various uses and had at different periods a ballroom, a restaurant and even two bowling alleys. These changes, and changes to the surrounding buildings, meant that the Old Synagogue, which is on a back lot down a narrow alleyway, was largely forgotten about. Its history wasn't recognised, which helped to protect it during the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
period.
It was not until the late 1980s that interest was awakened in the old building. The architectural historian Elmar Altwasser began to research it in 1992. Erfurt City Council bought the property in 1998 and extensively researched and
conserved it.
''"During the conservation, great emphasis was put on the preservation of all traces of use: those dating from synagogal use as well as those from later alterations. Owing to this careful conservation and restoration, medieval as well as younger building phases are still easy to perceive."'' Permanent Delegation of Germany to UNESCO (2015) ''Old synagogue and Mikveh in Erfurt''
In 2007 a rare and particularly well-preserved Jewish ritual bath, a
Mikveh
Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity.
Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...
, dating from c.1250 was discovered by archeologists not far from the Old Synagogue, near Erfurt's
Krämerbrücke
The Krämerbrücke (; Merchants' bridge) is a medieval arch bridge in the city of Erfurt, in Thuringia, central Germany, which is lined with half-timbered shops and houses on both sides of a cobblestone street. It is one of the few remaining bri ...
(Merchants' Bridge). The mikveh has been accessible to visitors on guided tours since September 2011.
In 2015 the Old Synagogue, Mikveh and the 'Stone House', a secular building from c.1250 in Erfurt's medieval city centre which had Jewish owners, were together nominated as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. This has been tentatively listed but a final decision has not yet been made.
Museum
The Old Synagogue was opened as a museum on 27 October 2009.
The museum permanently houses the
Erfurt Treasure
The Erfurt Treasure is a hoard of coins, goldsmiths' work and jewellery that is assumed to have belonged to a Jew of Erfurt, Germany who hid them in 1349 before perishing in the Erfurt massacre, one of the persecutions and massacres of Jews dur ...
, a hoard of 3141 silver coins, weighing , and over 700 pieces of goldsmiths' work and jewellery that is thought to have belonged to Jews who hid them at the time of the Erfurt massacre in 1349.
The collection, which weighs almost in total, was found in 1998 in the wall of a house at ''Michaelisstraße 43'', in a medieval Jewish neighbourhood, near the Synagogue. The treasure has been exhibited in Berlin, Paris, London, New York and Tel Aviv.
It also displays facsimiles of the Erfurt Hebrew Manuscripts, a collection of significant religious texts dating from the 12th-14th century. They came into the possession of Erfurt City Council after the Erfurt Massacre, and in the late 17th century ended up in the library of the Lutheran Evangelical Ministry, at Erfurt's former
Augustinian Monastery. The Ministry sold them to the Royal Library in Berlin, the present day
Berlin State Library
The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the larg ...
, in 1880, where the originals are now kept.
Erfurt Tosefta
One of the Erfurt Manuscripts is the
Tosefta
The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah.
Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...
, part of a compilation of oral law, or
oral Torah
According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law ( he, , Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe}) are those purported laws, statutes, and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah ( he, , Tōrā šebbīḵ ...
, attributed to Jewish scholars called
tannaim
''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...
, who mostly lived in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
from about the year 0 CE until c. 200 CE (0 – 200 AD). Not all scholars agree, but it is generally thought to provide interpretation of unclear sections of the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
, Judaism's primary book of Jewish legal theory.
[Erfurt Collection: Erfurt Hebrew Manuscripts]
Retrieved 8 June 2017
Tosefta were rarely copied, and the Erfurt Tosefta, from the 12th century, is the oldest of only three known Tosefta manuscripts.
The other two are the Vienna Tosefta, late 13th century, held by the
Austrian National Library
The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of V ...
and the London Tosefta, 15th century, held by the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
Moses Samuel Zuckermandl Rabbi Moses Samuel Zuckermandl, also Zuckermandel (24 April 1836, Uherský Brod, Moravia 27 January 1917, Breslau (now Wrocław), Silesia) was a Czech-German rabbi, Talmudist, and Jewish theologian.
Biography
Zuckermandl was a student of Samson R ...
(also ''Zuckermandel'') was the first to point out the importance of the Erfurt Tosefta in his seminal study on it published, in German, in 1876.
Other synagogues in Erfurt
The ''Kleine Synagoge'' (Small Synagogue) was built in 1840 and was used until 1884. It was restored in 1998 and it is now used as an events venue. The building features a
classically influenced façade and interior.
In 1884 the community constructed the ''Große Synagoge'' (Great Synagogue), a magnificent
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...
building. It was destroyed in the Nazi
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
riots on the night of 9–10 November 1938.
In 1947 the site of the Great Synagogue, which had been confiscated by the Nazis, was returned to the Jewish community by Erfurt City Council. The ''Neue Synagoge'' (New Synagogue), which was built on the site, opened on 31 August 1952. The new building was funded by the
GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
government and it was the only completely new synagogue ever built in the country.
It is the New Synagogue which is used for worship by the present-day Jewish community in Erfurt; it was set on fire by a group of neo-Nazis in April 2000
[documentaries4jew, « Spitzel in der Synagoge: Die DDR und die Juden », 27 January 2012]
See also
*
History of the Jews in Germany
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
*
Oldest synagogues in the world
Historic synagogues include synagogues that date back to ancient times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others wer ...
References
External links
Erfurt Tourismus. Old Synagogue and Erfurt Treasure
{{Authority control
World Heritage Tentative List
Museums in Erfurt
Heritage sites in Thuringia
Romanesque and Gothic synagogues
11th-century synagogues
13th-century synagogues
Synagogues preserved as museums
Jewish museums in Germany
Restored and conserved buildings
Former synagogues in Germany
Medieval German architecture
Jewish German history
Medieval Jewish history
Archaeological discoveries in Germany
2007 archaeological discoveries