In the context of our project we visited the former synagogue in Pfungstadt. In 1820 Pfungstadt's Jewish community purchased the estate in Hillgasse which consisted of three buldings, one of them a detached house. Renovated and extended, this was turned into a synagogue, one of the outbuildings was used as community rooms and a mikwe was built in. We have learned that a mikwe is an immersion bath, which serves the purification of ritual impurity.
In the night from November 9th to 10th, the so called Reichspogromnacht (Pogrom Night), the interior of the synagoge fell prey to the Nazi mob. In that night Pfungstadt's synagogue shared the fate with more than thousand Jewish houses of prayer in Germany.
It is said to have been sheer egoism of the residents, who were concerned about their property, as the neighbourhood was densely built, that the synagogue had not been burned down completely that night.
After 1939 the buildings were used for various purposes, as storage room and later part of it as a flat. In 1990 Pfungstadt bought the estate and started redeveloping it accordance with the guidelines of cultural heritage preservation. Focus here was to preserve the historical traces to commemorate the past while turning it into an art centre for public use. Since then the former synagogue has been used for exhibitions, readings, lectures and concert, all apt to the history of this site. One of the outbuildings houses Pfungstadt's archive and the restored mikwe.
The synagogue's original ceiling.
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