Synagogue Beit Tikwa (Bielefeld)
52 00 '31 "N 8 32' 36" E / 52.0085, 8.54339
Bielefeld is a city-district industrial of Germany , north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia , located midway between Dortmund and Hanover. Its population in 2004 was 329 000.
The Jewish community of Bielefeld was founded in 1705 , but the first Jews settled in Bielefeld from the fourteenth century. The community is now part of the National Association of Jewish Communities in Westphalia-Lippe . This synagogue was completed in 2008 , transforming into a place of Jewish prayer, the church Evangelical Paul Gerhardt. It happens to be the first synagogue in Germany arose from the restructuring of a church .
Summary |
Before the Nazis
The first document attesting to the presence of Jews in Bielefeld date half of the fourteenth century. In an act of 23 April 1345 , the Count of Ravensberg gives pledge to canon Gottfried Blomenberg possessions as well as income from fees including annual fees of Jews from Bielefeld.
During the Black Death that ravaged the Europe in the years one thousand three hundred and forty-eight - 1,350 Jews are accused of having poisoned the wells. Many communities are murdered and disappeared, mostly in Germany and Switzerland. Jews are expelled from the Bielefeld city, but it is unknown if there were massacres. Only the 12 February 1370 the Count of Ravensberg, William of Jlich , allows Jews to return to the city. Some Jews moved to Bielefeld, Saul Vino, Jutta Simon Nenkun Hamel, a Nennken Rethberghe, Johanna de Hamme and his family, and are now directly under the protection of the sovereign, which gives them security of residence or a safe- led to leave the city in return for a bond. Documents show the location of Jews in Bielefeld 1384 ; 1408 and 1430.
From the middle of the sixteenth century , there more Jews in Bielefeld, for the Duke William V of Jlich decreed in 1554 to ban Jews reside throughout the country ("Order of Police Jlich "). But for economic reasons, Jews will soon be allowed back to live in Bielefeld. As proof, the ratio of "Debates of the council" of 11 July 1586 authorizing the stay in town for a short duration of the Hertz family against payment of an amount of 20 thalers. Other Jews might be permitted against payment of a supplementary fee.
In 1705 , the Kehilla (Jewish community), Bielefeld is formally established . In 1800 , thanks to a donation, the Jewish community becomes the owner of a building on the site of the Monastery (formerly Wendtschen court) in the old town of Bielefeld. Authorities were first place in the existing building, before construction of a synagogue in 1847.
In the early twentieth century , the premises of the former synagogue, at 5 instead of the monastery had become too small, despite some changes. The Jewish community decided to build a new synagogue .
A loan from the city of Bielefeld allows the community to purchase land on Turner Street, near the Kesselbrink, one of the squares of downtown Bielefeld . On 20 September 1905 , the synagogue built according to plans by architect Eduard Frstenau was solemnly inaugurated. The building was built for 800 faithful, and has a dome rising to 41 meters, topped by a Star of David Gold.
The Nazi era
Like many other synagogues in Germany, synagogue in Bielefeld is burned by the Nazis during the Kristallnacht of 9 to 10 November 1938 , and its ruins are cleared thereafter. A plaque commemorates the memory of the synagogue destroyed . The burning of the synagogue in Bielefeld was filmed by an amateur filmmaker. It is currently one of the few existing documents filmed showing the action of the Nazis against the synagogues during Kristallnacht. This document is presented to the Jewish Museum Berlin (Jewish Museum), and the museum of the Memorial to the Holocaust of the U.S. ( United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ) in Washington , and is subject to numerous broadcasts German television .
Anti-Semitism, incitement to hatred against Jews, became increasingly violent in the local press. On 13 December 1941 , about 1,000 Jews were deported to Riga in the direction of the Gestapo in Mnster , including about 420 from the district of Bielefeld and among them 88 Jews from the city of Bielefeld. Deportation is initially disguised under various names, like: "send", "installation in the east", "deportation". More deportations of Jews from Bielefeld held mainly to the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Theresienstadt. At the end of the Second World War , there is no longer officially a Jew in Bielefeld
Postwar
The Jewish community of Bielefeld is reconstituted immediately after the war, and in 1951 she found a place of prayer in a building located west of the city street Stapenhorst .
From 1990 , the Jewish community will grow substantially with the arrival of immigrants from the countries of the former Soviet Union. Bethel is available quickly enough and the community decides to build a new synagogue.
New Synagogue
History of the construction of the synagogue
In 2005 , the parish of the Evangelical Church Paul Gerhardt merged with the parish church of Mary of Neustadt, the most important church of Bielefeld. Shortly after the merger, the association of churches Bielefeld decides to sell the church on Rue Paul-Gerhardt Detmolder. The Jewish community is acquiring and falls away quickly agree with the association of churches.
A defense committee composed of 80 followers of the church Paul Gerhardt is created to oppose the sale of the church to the Jewish community. But even within the Jewish community have expressed strong criticism against the purchase of an old church, which led to the dismissal of the board, challenged by former management , , . The evangelical side, the protest culminated in late March 2007 , with the occupation of the church by a dozen followers who remain there three months, and never leave until a compromise to ensure that the parish can continue to use the Church until 12 September 2007.
After the end of the occupation and achieving the sales, the conversion work can finally begin. The work is carried out in a record time of ten months, and completed in September 2008 , , .
Inauguration
On September 21 , 2008, exactly 103 years and one day after the inauguration of the synagogue of Turner Street, the New Synagogue Street Detmolder is solemnly inaugurated. Many personalities from politics and society are attending the ceremony, including the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Israel , Harald Kindermann and the current Prime Minister of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia Jrgen Rttgers , and a large number of people in Bielefeld
Architecture
The plans of the synagogue are made by the architect Klaus Beck and decorator Matthias Hanke.
Radically transform the work of the old church building. The pointed steeple of the old church was replaced by a round roof. Inside the tower, there is now a lift. The facade is covered with white plaster, and the gate has a bay window. Unlike the church, the building of the synagogue is bounded on the street Detmolder by a wall about two meters high. Inside the synagogue, there is a library and several rooms for worship and cultural events. The altar has been replaced by the Holy Ark , a gift from Christian evangelicals, Catholics and the Free Church . The transformation of the building was financed in part by the Jewish community, and also by the city of Bielefeld, and the Land North Rhine-Westphalia .
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