Former cantor's house Halberstadt with mikvah (18th c.) and Café-Restaurant Hirsch

The former cantor's house in Bakenstraße 56 dates from the end of the 18th century. Directly behind it stood the baroque synagogue of the Jewish community donated by the Halberstadt court factor Berend Lehmann since 1712. The entrance was initially on the east side (from Judenstraße), but was moved to the west in 1879 during renovation and the addition of a new reception hall. From then on, the gateway of the cantor's house on Bakenstraße served as the new main entrance. The neo-baroque courtyard gate was renewed only recently and - in memory of the Orthodox tradition of the Halberstadt community - provided with the Hebrew inscription "Bet Tfila yisraeli"

In the basement of the cantor's house, where coals had last been stored, a mikveh (ritual bath) was uncovered after 1990. It was already located between the foundations of the previous building, so it is probably older than the community mikveh (1766) in the house Judenstraße 26. The mikveh in the Kantorhaus can also be visited on request. Access is via a wooden floor slab on the first floor.

In the adjoining house, Bakenstraße 57, in cooperation with the "Moses-Mendelssohn-Akademie" and the "Berend-Lehmann-Museum", the café-restaurant "Hirsch" was established, named after the renowned Halberstadt family business "Aron Hirsch & Sohn". The family coat of arms adorns the walls of the café. Specialties of Jewish cuisine from all over the world are offered. Cooks and staff immigrated from the former Soviet Union after 1990. The entrance to the café is located in the gateway of the Kantorhaus.