New Synagogue (Darmstadt)

New Synagogue
German: Neue Synagoge
The Torah ark, stained glass windows and synagogue dome
Religion
AffiliationReform Judaism
RiteNusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational statusSynagogue
StatusActive
Design featuresStained-glass windows by Brian Clarke
Location
LocationWilhelm-Glässing-Straße 26, Darmstadt, Hessen
CountryGermany
New Synagogue (Darmstadt) is located in Hesse
New Synagogue (Darmstadt)
Location of the synagogue in Hessen
Geographic coordinates49°52′03″N 8°39′17″E / 49.8675°N 8.65467°E / 49.8675; 8.65467
Architecture
Architect(s)Alfred Jacoby
TypeSynagogue architecture
StylePostmodern
Completed1988
Specifications
Capacity200 worshippers
Dome(s)Three
MaterialsStone; concrete
Website
jg-darmstadt.de (in German)
[1][2][3][4][5]

The New Synagogue (German: Neue Synagoge) is a Reform Jewish congregation, synagogue, community centre, and Jewish museum (German: Jüdische Gemeinde), located in Darmstadt, in the state of Hessen, Germany.[6]

History

Inaugurated on in 1988, the synagogue was built as part of a citizens’ initiative to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht.[7] Known also as the ‘Holocaust Memorial Synagogue’, the architectural complex was designed to fulfil the needs of the city's Jewish population, who had been without a place of worship since the 1938 pogrom when Darmstadt's three synagogues were destroyed.[8] The religious and cultural complex is located on the site of the city's former Gestapo headquarters.[9]

The cultural complex is the site of the local museum of Jewish history and culture, Museum der Jüdischen Gemeinde Darmstadt.

The synagogue is egalitarian and has a number of members who are LGBTQ Jews, converts, or who are in interfaith marriages. Under the leadership of Rabbi Gesa Ederberg, the synagogue's mechitza was removed.[10]

Architecture

The building was designed by Alfred Jacoby in the Postmodernist style, and features stained glass windows designed by British architectural artist Brian Clarke.[1]

The first "newly constructed synagogue in the postwar period to recall the traditional form of a central, domed building", the design marked the start of Jacoby's development of a distinct modern Jewish religious architectural vernacular.[11]

  • The north wall of the New Synagogue, with stained glass by Brian Clarke
    The north wall of the New Synagogue, with stained glass by Brian Clarke

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Post-WWII Synagogue in Darmstadt". Historic synagogues of Europe. Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. n.d. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  2. ^ Schwartz, Hans-Peter (1988). Die Architektur Der Synagoge (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Deutsches Architekturmuseum.
  3. ^ Geller, Jay; Morris, Leslie, eds. (September 21, 2016). "Between Memory and Normalcy". Three-Way Street: Jews, Germans, and the Transnational. University of Michigan Press. p. 289. ISBN 9780472130122.
  4. ^ Necker, Sylvia (June 1, 2017). "Synagogues at the Intersection of Architecture, Town, and Imagination". In Lässig, Simone; Rürup, Miriam (eds.). Space and Spatiality in Modern German-Jewish History: Volume 8 of New German Historical Perspectives (First ed.). Berghahn Books. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-78533-554-9.
  5. ^ Alicke, Klaus-Diete (November 17, 2008). "Darmstadt (Hesse)". Lexikon: Der Jüdischer Gemeinden im deutschen Sprachraum (in German) (First ed.). Gütersloher Verlagshaus. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  6. ^ Aeppel, Timothy. "Facing shadows of the past: Germans mark Jewish persecution". The Christian Science Monitor.
  7. ^ "Wer ein Haus baut, der will Bleiben". Darmstädter Echo. Echo Zeitungen GmbH. November 10, 2008.
  8. ^ Hein, Rainer (November 10, 2013). "Neue Synagoge in Darmstadt: Zeichen des Glauben, der Versöhnung und Zuversicht". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Beuth Verlag GmbH. ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  9. ^ Reinhold-Postina, Eva (1988). Neumann, Moritz (ed.). Das Darmstädter Synagogenbuch : eine Dokumentation zur Synagogen-Einweihung am 9. November 1988 : im Auftrag des Magistrats der Stadt Darmstadt und der Jüdischen Gemeinde Darmstadt (in German). Darmstadt: E. Roether Verlag. OCLC 27644657.
  10. ^ "A Revived Congregation's New Vision Has Old Roots". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  11. ^ Singer, David, ed. (1996). "Federal Republic of Germany: Synagogue boom". American Jewish Year Book. 96. VNR AG: 292.

Further reading

  • Frenzel, Martin (2008). "Eine Zierde unserer Stadt": Geschichte, Gegenwart und Zukunft der Liberalen Synagoge Darmstadt. Darmstadt: Justus von Liebig Verlag.
  • "Die Bürgerschaft gibt der jüdischen Gemeinde eine Synagoge zurück": Einweihung der Synagoge in Darmstadt 9. November 1988:Ansprachen. (1989). Germany: Magistrat der Stadt Darmstadt, Presse und Informationsamt.

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