Remains of synagogue destroyed in 1938 discovered in Munich
July 5, 2023
Construction workers discovered stones from Munich's main synagogue, which was demolished in 1938.
The old Munich synagogue was demolished in 1938 on Adolf Hitler's ordersImage: Illustrirte Chronik der Zeit, Stuttgart (H. Schönlein)/akg-images/picture alliance
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The renovation of a weir on the Isar caused a sensation in the Bavarian capital. Construction workers found the remains of Munich's former main synagogue, which had been demolished in 1938 on Adolf Hitler's orders, local media reported on Wednesday.
Construction workers discovered stones artistically decorated with flowers and ornaments, which, thanks to old photos, can be unequivocally linked to the Jewish house of worship. Among other things, they found parts of columns and a stone tablet of the law with the Ten Commendments in Hebrew script that used to be inside the synagogue above the Torah shrine.
After the synagogue was demolished, the remaining rubble was initially stored on a site in the west of Munich. Now it turned out that after the Second World War the construction company Leonhard Moll, which was commissioned to demolish the synagogue in 1938, used the rubble for renovation work on the Großhesseloher weir in 1956.
A light in the darkness: Remembering Germany's destroyed synagogues
On November 9, 1938, and in the days that followed, the vast majority of Germany's more than 2,000 synagogues were destroyed. In commemoration, many were shown in colorful projections in their original locations in 2023.
Image: Martin Meissner/AP Photo/picture alliance
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Inaugurating the synagogue in 1900, then Dortmund Mayor Karl Wilhelm Schmieding called what is now known as the Old Synagogue a "jewel for the city, built to last for centuries." At the time, it was one of the largest in Germany. But his statement would be proven wrong. In 1938, the Nazis forced the Jewish community to sell it and began demolishing it on November 9, when the pogroms began.
Image: Martin Meissner/AP Photo/picture alliance
1938: Arson with an audience
On November 10, 1938, members of the Nazi paramilitary groups the SS and SA set fire to the synagogue in Siegen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Many onlookers watched it burn. Jews were charged for the clearing of the ruins. The bunker that was built in its place in 1941 still stands. An image of the burning synagogue was projected next to the bunker.
Image: Rene Traut/imago images
Firefighters did not intervene
One of the Frankfurt synagogues was also purposely set ablaze. Firefighters were dispatched, but did not intervene. And this synagogue, too, was later replaced by a bunker, which is still standing despite the surrounding neighborhood's being badly damaged by air raids in World War II. A projection of the synagogue could be seen on the bunker's wall
Image: Michael Probst/AP Photo/picture alliance
Fatal attack on community leaders
The synagogue in Bamberg, Bavaria, was also burned down during the night of November 9, 1938. The Jewish community leader at the time, Willy Lessing, was fatally injured by a mob while trying to save the Torah scrolls, and the fire department was prevented from extinguishing the blaze. Eighty-three years later, pictures of the synagogue could be seen on a screen where the building once stood.
Image: Nicolas Armer/dpa/picture alliance
Old splendor comes back to life
According to the architect Edwin Oppler, the New Synagogue in Hanover, the capital of the state of Lower Saxony, which was finished in 1870, was "the first built in German style." One of the major sources of inspiration was the Aachen Cathedral, which was consecrated in the ninth century. This did not prevent the Nazis from destroying it in November 1938.
Image: Michael Matthey/dpa/picture alliance
From virtual reality to actual reality?
The Hamburg Bornplatz Synagogue was also destroyed. On July 14, 1939, the Hamburger Tageblatt newspaper cynically reported the demolition: "Where there are still a few sad ruins today, a friendly green space will soon make everyone happy." Now you can see the synagogue as a virtual reality representation. There are even plans to rebuild it.
Image: Marcus Brandt/dpa/picture alliance
Berlin: Destruction and new beginnings
The Fasanenstrasse Synagogue in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg was set on fire in 1938 and then completely destroyed during air raids in 1943. At the end of the 1950s, a Jewish community hall was built on the same site. It represents a new beginning for Jewish life in Berlin after the Holocaust. The destroyed synagogue was projected on the facade of the community hall.
Image: Michael Sohn/AP Photo/picture alliance
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What will happen with the stones?
It is still unclear what will happen next with the historical stones. If the old Torah shrine can be at least partially reconstructed, the suitable place for it would be in the anteroom of today's main synagogue on Jakobsplatz, says Bernhard Purin, director of the Jewish Museum Munich (JMM). He can also imagine an exhibition on the history of the find in his museum.
Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria, who knows the old synagogue from her childhood, is particularly happy about the stones.
She told the Münchner Merkur that she is looking forward to the fragments "returning to the community and showing us a piece of our own history."
Meanwhile, Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said that it was "a stroke of luck" to find "the remains of the magnificent building that once dominated the cityscape."
