Online Archive of Jewish Communities

The medieval Jewish residential area was located in the city center near the market district in the area of Große Metzgergasse (today Dalbergstraße)/Stiftsplatz. A synagogue was first mentioned in 1344. It stood in the Dalbergstraße/Rathausgasse corner before and after the persecution in the plague period. It is mentioned as "Judenschule" (1363, 1383, 1385, 1397, 1437) or as "synagoga Judeorum" (1402). Until the middle of the 15th century it was used for the services of the Jewish community. For unknown reasons, it fell into disrepair and was completely destroyed in 1459.    

Already in the second half of the 18th century a prayer hall or a synagogue was present. In 1824, the Jewish community in Hörstein had to recognize the dilapidation of their prayer house. In view of the need for a new building, 1,400 gulden had already been collected in donations at that time. Thus, the synagogue building was probably realized in the following years. A report on the inauguration and the exact date of the inauguration are not known.
   

Last use: residential and commercial

In 1926, the new synagogue was opened in the converted factory building, a former silverware factory.

Contradictory information in the literature on the date of the first desecration. Both May 1934 and 1936 are mentioned. Last use: district savings bank. Due to the fact that Christians lived in the attic, it prevented in the Reichspogromnacht 1938 also this synagogue burned down. On November 9, 2015, a memorial was established at the former synagogue.  

In 1867 the Jewish community acquired the property of the tanner Eberhard Fromm on the north side of the Weinhof for the price of 32,752 gulden, on which there was a large house with a rear building (properties Weinhof 2 and 3). The new synagogue was built according to the plans of architect and city building council Adolf Wolff from Stuttgart in the Moorish style (at that time also called "strict Byzantine style") as a brick building with tracery in house stones.

The first evidence of a settlement of Jews in Arnsberg dates from 1600. 71 years later, the city no longer tolerated Jewish settlement on municipal territory, which is why the Jews were expelled from Arnsberg. 

Before the consecration of the synagogue in Promenadenstraße (today Synagogenplatz) in 1862 the Jewish community in Aachen used other prayer houses. The location of the first synagogue is not known. The second synagogue was located in Hirschgraben and was used until the consecration of the new synagogue. The construction of the synagogue in Promenadenstraße was necessary in view of the growth of the community.

In 1827, the synagogue is mentioned for the first time, but it is inaugurated only in 1829. In 1938, the synagogue is sold and thus survives the progroms in the Nazi era. Only in 1999, the building is again used as a synagogue.

The first prayer rooms in private houses are mentioned as early as 1781. It was not until 1860 that the desire for an independent synagogue arose. The official inauguration date is 01 November 1863.The building was sold by the Jewish community in 1938. Before it was used as a church by the Catholic community in 1947, the building was used as a warehouse for building materials and supplies by the military. In 1962 the building was demolished to build a road crossing. Since 1991, there is a memorial plaque at the former site.

At first there was probably a prayer room in one of the Jewish houses. A first synagogue was built around 1806. At the beginning of the 1830s there were first considerations in view of a new synagogue building and a larger schoolhouse. In May 1833, master builder Augener submitted cost estimates and building plans for this, but these were not implemented.