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Main Synagogue In Frankfurt (1860 1938)

50 06 '49 "N 8 41' 16" E / 50.1136, 8.68778

The main synagogue in 1885 in Brnestrasse

The synagogue 's main Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt Hauptsynagoge) in Brnestrae, formerly known as the Judengasse (Lane to Jews ), was the center of the Jewish liberal reformism in the city. Inaugurated on 23 March 1860 , the third synagogue built on the same site after those of 1462 and 1711. From 9 to 10 November of 1938 , during the pogroms of Kristallnacht , the Nazis burned the main synagogue and the three other synagogues in Frankfurt, one of the Brneplatz built in 882 , the Orthodox synagogue on the Friedberger Anlage built in 1907 and Westendsynagoge built in 1910. The ruins of the main synagogue were razed in January 1939 and the stones are used to construct the wall for closing the main cemetery.

Today, only a plaque on the street Kurt-Schumacher recalls the event. Of the four major synagogues of Frankfurt only Westendsynagogue has not been totally destroyed during the period of National Socialism and the Second World War and has been reconstructed and rehabilitated.

/ / History

Inauguration of the main synagogue March 23, 1860

Situation between the main synagogue and Brnestrae Allerheiligengasse

The oldest synagogue in the Judengasse Frankfurt is one of the first buildings built shortly after the introduction of the ghetto in 1462. It lies near the middle of the lane on the east side. Due to the growth of the Jewish community, it is magnified many times over the centuries following. On 14 January 1711 in what was called the "Great Fire Jew" the synagogue is burned completely and 200 houses in the ghetto. Its reconstruction is carried out very quickly after the fire and in 1806 , after the removal of the constraint imposed on the Jews to live in a ghetto, it remains a spiritual center of the Jewish community.

In nineteenth-century tensions arise between the Orthodox Jews of Frankfurt and members of Reform Judaism led by Rabbi Abraham Geiger. In 1844 the community council appealed to Rabbi Leopold Stein, representing the moderate reformist wing. His appointment divides the community, as the Rabbi in office, Abraham Solomon Trier is a determined opponent of Stein. In 1851 the Orthodox Union under the leadership of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch separates from the Jewish community that continues to rub a liberal wing and an orthodox wing.

Leopold Stein makes the decision, already planned for a long time to demolish the old synagogue in the Judengasse and rebuild on the same site a building more modern and consistent with the present need. The construction is delayed because the Baron Amschel Mayer Rothschild opposed Stein talks about his acceptance of funding the new construction. It was only in 1854 , Stein served its purpose and that work can begin. In 1850 / 60 , the architect Johann Georg Kaiser selected by the community, built buildings in sandstone Red Hand , representing the spirit of that era. For the synagogue, it combines elements of style Gothic , Moorish and Byzantine. The main facade is located on the Brnestrae 24.50 meters wide, and the building has a depth of 26.50 meters. The back cover on the Allerheiligengasse is inclined 15 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the building. In the rear of the building are a small meeting room and a file room.

In the nave and the two main tributaries aisles of the synagogue, 514 seats are reserved for men. In the galleries located above the aisles collaterals, are the 506 seats for women.

The interior corresponds to the specific liturgy of ritual and reform initiatives include a pulpit and organ.

Rabbi Stein delivered the speech at the solemn inauguration of the main synagogue on 23 March 1860 , attended by the Mayor and Senator of the Free City of Frankfurt. He stressed that the new synagogue is a symbol of the solidarity of the Jewish community with the nation Germany and its religion of state. This speech is far from being appreciated by the entire community council which led two years later than the resignation of Stein from his post rabbi.

In 1864 , the Jews of Frankfurt obtain full equality of civil rights.

On the night of 9 to 10 November 1938 the main synagogue is looted and burned by the troops of SA. The firefighters alerted to go to the scene but did not intervene to extinguish the fire. The building burned completely to the exterior walls. In January 1939 , the city hired a contractor to raze the ruins of the main synagogue and the synagogue Brneplatz. The stones are recoverable to build a wall 165 meters long to close the new extensions of Frankfurt's main cemetery along the road Eckenheim.

On ¹ April 1939 the National Socialist mayor Friedrich Krebs forcing the Jewish community to sign the Judenvertrag, forcing the Jewish community act to cede to the city all its property assets, including land in the main synagogue already released against an indemnity symbolic. In 1944 the majority of downtown Frankfurt was destroyed during several aerial attacks. The area surrounding the former main synagogue are leveled by bombs. After the war, in the 1950s , the neighborhood is completely remodeled and the location of the Brnestrae no longer recognizable. The wide street Kurt-Schumacher crosses the former location of the Judengasse acute angle and thus covers a large part of the former ghetto. The main synagogue was located approximately where the road now leads Allerheiligen into Kurt-Schumacher.

Today, only a plaque in granite affixed in 1946 on the front of the house at 41 rue Kurt-Schumacher reminded the synagogue. It bears the following inscription: Here was the main synagogue of Brnestrasse as Nazi criminals have destroyed Nov. 9, 1938.

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(De) This article is partially or entirely from the article in German entitled " Westendsynagoge "(see the list of authors )
(From): Frankfurter Historische Kommission (Hrg.): Frankfurt am Main - Die Geschichte der Stadt in neun Beitrgen. Sigmaringen 1991. January Thorbecke Verlag, ISBN 3-7995-4158-6
(From): Georg Heuberger (Hrsg.), Wer ein Haus baut, Will bleiben. 50 Jahre Jdische Gemeinde Frankfurt am Main. Anfnger und Gegenwart., Societts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-7973-0692-X
(From): Georg Heuberger (Hrsg.), Und keiner hat fr each Kaddisch gesagt ... Deportationen aus Frankfurt am Main 1941 bis 1945, Stroemfeld Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Basel 2005, ISBN 3-87877-045-6
(From): Rachel Heuberger, Helga Krohn: Hinaus aus dem Ghetto. Juden in Frankfurt am Main 1800-1950. Begleitbuch zur Ausstellung stndigen Jdischen of Museums. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-10-031407-7
(From): Eugen Mayer: Die Frankfurter Juden, Frankfurt am Main 1966, Verlag Waldemar Kramer
(From): Wolf-Christian Setzepfandt: Architekturfhrer Frankfurt am Main. 3. Auflage. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin August 2002, S. 41, ISBN 3-496-01236-6