The Regensburg Synagogue is an Orthodox

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

(also known as Ratisbon), in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, southern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Synagogues were completed in 1227, 1841 and again in 1912; each destroyed; most recently by

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

on November 9, 1938, during ''

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

''. In 1945, the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

congregation began to worship from a stone prayer hall, located at Am Brixener Hof 2, in Regensburg. In 2019, a new synagogue was opened, designed by Volker Staab in the

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

style.

History

The earliest written record of Jewish life in Regensburg dates from 981 making it the oldest Jewish community in Bavaria.

First synagogue

The original synagogue was erected between 1210 and 1227, in the Old Romanesque style on the site of the former Jewish hospital, in the center of the

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

, where the present Neue Pfarre stands. Two etchings made by

Albrecht Altdorfer Albrecht Altdorfer ( – 12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Da ...

of the synagogue shortly before it was destroyed on February 22, 1519, provide the first portrait of an actual architectural monument in European

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

. In 1519 following the death of Emperor Maximilian, who had long been a protector of the Jews in the imperial cities, extracting from them substantial taxes in exchange, the city of Regensburg, which blamed its economic troubles on its prosperous Jewish community, expelled the 500 Jews. The Jews themselves had demolished the interior of their venerable synagogue, on the site of which a chapel was built in honor of the Virgin. According to a chronicle the exiles settled, under the protection of the

Duke of Bavaria The following is a list of monarchs during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1918, Bavaria has been under a republican form of government, and from 19 ...

, on the opposite bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, in Stadt-am-Hof, and in villages in the vicinity; from these they were expelled in the course of the same century.

Second synagogue

In 1669 Jews were again permitted to reside in Regensburg but it was not until April 2, 1841 that the community was able to dedicate its new synagogue. In 1907 however, it was demolished for fear of collapse.

Third synagogue

Rebuilt in 1912 at a different place, when the town had a Jewish population of about 600, it was destroyed by the

on November 9, 1938, during ''

''.

Gallery

The Entrance Hall of the Regensburg Synagogue MET DP822166.jpg, The entrance hall of the Regensburg Synagogue,

, 1519 Interieur van de synagoge te Regensburg iudaica ratispona synagoga iusto dei iudico fundits est eversa (titel op object), RP-P-1909-2820.jpg, The double-naved interior with bimah between columns, 1519 Regensburg synagogue.jpg, Postcard of the former synagogue in SynagogendenkmalRegensburg.JPG, Memorial created by Dani Karavan in 2005 that depicts the foundation of the synagogue.

References

Sources

* *
The Jewish Encyclopedia: Ratisbon
** {{Synagogues in Germany 1938 disestablishments in Germany 13th-century synagogues in Europe 21st-century synagogues in Germany Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Germany Ashkenazi synagogues Buildings and structures in Regensburg Jewish German history Jews and Judaism in Regensburg Medieval synagogues Modernist architecture in Germany Modernist synagogues Religious buildings and structures in Bavaria Synagogues completed in 1916 Synagogues completed in 2019 Synagogues destroyed during Kristallnacht (Germany)