Synagogue Rheydt

After the prayer room (Hauptstra;e 178, acquired by Rheydter synagogue community) for the growing congregation had become too small and dilapidated, äußerte the Jewish community 1872 the desire to build a new synagogue. Since the members of the congregation came mainly from poorer backgrounds, the necessary funds for the new building could not be raised by the congregation itself. The then Board Commissioner David Falk therefore proposed a house collection in the Rhineland and Westphalia. A project for which he needed the approval of both the Chairman of the Board of the Kreissynagogengemeinde Gladbach, Alexander Cohnen, and the Royal Government of Düsseldorf. The fact that the relatively small and poor Jewish congregation received state permission for a house collection speaks for the integrity of the local Jewish community. Sketches of plans for the construction of the new synagogue from 1872 are still preserved, but they were not fully executed. The originally planned design of the interior, however, was retained.

On August 04, 1876, the synagogue was inaugurated. The school wing, already planned at the beginning, was not added until 1880. He was located on the left side of the synagogue to the corner of today's Wilhelm-Strater-Straße. Already in 1900, this school wing was torn down and replaced by a larger school building with a teacher's apartment on the right side of the synagogue.

For the 50th anniversary of the synagogue in 1926, extensive renovation and interior remodeling work was carried out. The building was to be restored to a more dignified and contemporary condition. Together with representatives of the city, such as the mayor and the school board and representatives of the Christian churches, the inauguration of the rebuilt synagogue was celebrated on September 8, 1926. During the November pogroms in 1938, the synagogue was set on fire. The building burned to the ground. The school building and the teacher's apartment remained intact.