Jewish Community Bayreuth

After the end of the war, a new Jewish community was founded in Bayreuth by survivors of concentration camps who were taken in as "displaced persons" in the American zone. In November 1945, 184 Jewish persons were counted in Bayreuth, in July 1946 there were 400, a year later over 500 persons. The centers of the "Jewish DP Community" in Bayreuth were at Heinrich-Schütz-Strasse 6 and Lisztstrasse 12. The chairmen of the Jewish DP community were Abraham Brillant and Felix Kugelmann. The community had various facilities: in addition to the synagogue, an elementary school, the Jewish infirmary St. Georgen-Hospital and clubs such as the sports and soccer club Hapoel Bayreuth. 
   
After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the number of Jewish DPs in Bayreuth declined rapidly. In February 1951, only 91 Jewish persons were counted in Bayreuth. The DP camp was closed, and the DPs who remained in Bayreuth became members of the now established German Jewish Community of Bayreuth. 


In the mid-1970s, only about 30 Jewish people still lived in Bayreuth. At that time, it was foreseeable that the community in the city would no longer have a long future ahead of it.   
   
Due to the influx of people/families from the CIS area since the 1990s, the number of parishioners has increased again. At the end of the 1990s, the Jewish community counted more than 220 members, then 510 members in 2016. The community is part of the Landesverband der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinden in Bayern K.d.ö.R.  
  
Since the previous premises were no longer sufficient due to the increase in community members, possibilities were sought to create a new Jewish cultural and community center in Bayreuth. This was found with the building of the Old Mint of 1778 in Münzgasse, which most recently housed the Iwalewa House (Africa Center of the University until November 2013) and in the right part of the building the children's and youth library of the city. In the future community center of the Jewish community, a prayer room was established during the renovation of the synagogue. 

The Jewish cultural and community center also houses a museum on the first floor and the archives of the community (the archive with documents from 1760 to 1933 is completely preserved). In addition, there are rooms for community events and meetings and a small kosher café. The reconstruction will be carried out after the completion of the synagogue from 2018 until probably January 2020.