Friedrich-Ebert-Straße / Reiterstraße
76829 Landau
Germany
The exact location of the medieval synagogue (called 1435) is not known. It was probably located in the area of the then Judengasse, where today the Theaterstraße could run.
There was also a synagogue in the 17th century (mentioned in 1684), which was probably destroyed in the great town fire of 1689.
In the 18th century (1742) is mentioned in a council protocol of the city a "Chanteur à la Synagogue". According to this, there was also a prayer room or synagogue at that time.
In 1797, the Jewish community was able to purchase the corner house Gymnasiumsstraße 1/ corner Waffenstraße and convert it into a synagogue. This house also housed the Jewish school from 1840 to 1851
Already in 1847 there was a plan to build a new synagogue in the area of Schustergasse/Salzhausgasse. But this plan was not realized after new opportunities arose in connection with the expansion of the city in the second half of the 19th century. In 1879, the Jewish community was given a 25-acre plot of land in the new construction square Kaiserstraße/ Reiterstraße/ Kriegstraße/ Kaiserring by the city. One of the most magnificent synagogues in the Palatinate was subsequently built on this plot. The plans were drawn by building inspector Heinrich Staudinger. Master builder Ecker (Nussdorf) was in charge of the construction. The building had a floor area of 390 m² and a height of 16 m.
On September 5, 1884, the synagogue was consecrated by District Rabbi Dr. Elias Grünebaum. Probably on November 5, 1938, a service was held in the synagogue for the last time. During the November pogrom in 1938, the synagogue was burned down by SA people. They poured gasoline over the benches in the synagogue on the evening of November 9, 1938, and set the building on fire. The fire smoldered for several hours; in the early morning hours, the fire spread to the domes, which collapsed around noon. The burned-out ruins were blown up and removed by the Emergency Technical Assistance from November 12 to 15. In October 1939, the land was transferred to the city, which in turn sold the building to two cinema owners on March 11, 1941. However, the planned cinema was never built.
After 1945, the property was transferred back to the Jewish Religious Community of the Rhine Palatinate. It sold it in 1959 to the Federal Property Office, which had apartments built here for French officers. On November 9, 1968, a bronze memorial was erected in memory of the synagogue. This memorial was created by the Landau artist Margot Stempel-Lebert (1923-2009) and was inaugurated in the presence of the last Rabbi of Landau, Dr. Kurt Metzger (1935-1938). Some stones from the former synagogue were integrated when the square was redesigned in 2016. They had previously been part of the eastern retaining wall at Savoyenpark.
