Synagogue Bitzenstraße (Hungen)

Initially (16th century) there may have been a prayer hall. In 1673 a first synagogue was built ("school", later called "old synagogue").

A new synagogue was consecrated in 1832 after three years of preparation in planning and financing. In the period during the construction of the synagogue, the building in front of it was used as a synagogue. The annex to the synagogue was established as a bathhouse with a school and a teacher's apartment. The synagogue was a two-story, plastered half-timbered house with a curved hipped roof, on the top of which was a Star of David. The window and door openings had round arches. In 1885, a heating system was installed and repairs were made.

In 1892 - at a time when anti-Semitism was also clearly felt in Hungen - youths damaged the Hungen synagogue. The building was renovated from the ground up in 1899.

For over 100 years, the synagogue was the center of Jewish community life in Hungen.

In the November pogrom of 1938, the interior of the synagogue was destroyed by SA people. Torah scrolls, prayer books were thrown into the street; the furniture was burned on the market square. Some of the ritual objects are said to have been delivered to the town hall, but they have since disappeared. The political community acquired a little later for 7,600 RM the synagogue building, to which also school, teacher's apartment and in the cellar the ritual bath belonged.

After 1945, the building passed into private ownership and was converted into a residential building.

In 1990, a memorial plaque was placed with the following text: "Former synagogue inaugurated in 1832 under the Rabbinate of Upper Hesse - desecrated and destroyed inside on November 10, 1938 under Nazi rule."