Jewish Community Bielefeld

The first documentary mention of the settlement of Jews dates from 1345. It is mentioned that Count of Ravensberg had pledged property and dues to the Bielefeld canon Gottfried de Blomenberge, including the annual dues of the Jews in Bielefeld.

During the plague pogroms in the Middle Ages, the Jews were driven out of Bielefeld, in some places there were bloody massacres. Only on February 12, 1370, the Count of Ravensberg, Wilhelm von Jülich, allowed the Jews to return to their homeland under the protection of their sovereign. 

Duke Wilhelm V of Jülich issued a ban on Jews staying in the country in 1554 and Jewish immigration did not take place again until the end of the 16th century.

The Jewish community in Bielefeld was formally established in 1705. In 1847, a synagogue was built, first at Klosterplatz, later in Turnerstraße. The synagogue in Turnerstraße, like many other synagogues in Germany, was set on fire on November 8/9 during the November Pogrom . The synagogue burned down and the ruins were removed. Today, a memorial plaque commemorates the old synagogue in Turnerstraße.

The Jewish religious community was re-established immediately after the Second World War. Their religious center with prayer room are today in the Detmolderstraße 107 in the former building of the Paul Gerhardt Church.