The Jewish Heritage of Rhineland-Palatinate

The medieval synagogue was dedicated in 1104 and was designed as a Romanesque hall roughly 34 feet wide and 57 feet long. The Jewish place of worship was desecrated during the pogrom of 1349 and restored in 1354 with some structural changes. After the expulsion of the Jews in the early 16th century, it was finally destroyed. Only the east wall still remains and little is known about the interior of the building.

The medieval synagogue in Worms was built in 1034 and is known as the oldest existing synagogue in Germany. The building was rebuilt in 1175 in the Romanesque style. The building was restored again in 1700 and in 1961 using original pieces. The synagogue is now a museum and functioning worship center used by the Jewish community.

The synagogue of Mainz-Weisenau is an Ashkenazi synagogue built in 1735-36. One of the last religious acts in the Weisenau synagogue was a wedding in 1938 before it was looted on the night of the pogrom from November 8th to 9th, 1938. The building itself was not set on fire, however, but was damaged from the fires of the neighbouring buildings. After being used as shed and warehouse, this stone synagogue was restored to its original use in 1996.

Polch's synagogue was built in 1876-77, probably according to the plans of Hermann Nebel. During the pogrom of November 1938, the synagogue was burnt down by men of the SA of Mayen. Although the fire was quickly extinguished, the women's gallery in particular was destroyed. On January 17, 1940, the Jewish community had to sell the synagogue, which was then used as a warehouse.

The synagogue in Worms-Pfeddersheim was a house, which was acquired by the Jewish community in 1843. As soon as it was acquired, it was completely renovated and used as a prayer room. The three-axis building was used by the Jewish community of Pfeddersheim until the 1920s. Afterwards, Pfeddersheim's winegrowers used the building to organise wine tastings. However, the original forms of the interior are still visible today.

The Synagogue in Odenbach is an Ashkenazi synagogue that was completed in 1752. The late Baroque interior painting from the time it was made, which is only now visible again in fragments, comes from Eliezer Sussmann , a Polish synagogue painter. The synagogue was last restored between 1990 and 1996. In use until 1938, this half-timbered synagogue now serves as a cultural centre.

The medieval synagogue (Rathofkapelle) in Oppenheim was used until 1394 when it was sold to Kloster Eberbach. The Jewish community of Oppenheim is first mentioned in an imperial tax list from 1242. After the persecution of 1349, the Jews were expelled for a few years in 1391, which would explain the abandonment of the synagogue at that time. The stone building now serves as a restaurant.

The Synagogue in Wittlich is an Ashkenazi synagogue completed in 1910, restored in 1975-77. During the pogrom on November 10, 1938, the interior of the synagogue was vandalized by SA men and other people. A third of the members of the Jewish community of Wittlich were murdered in concentration camps. After the war, none of the survivors returned, which meant that the synagogue had lost its function. This stone synagogue now serves as a cultural centre.

The Argenschwang synagogue was built in the 17th and 18th centuries. The two-storey half-timbered house with rectangular windows was purchased by the Jewish community in the 18th century in order to establish a synagogue there after an extension of the building. The prayer hall was located on the upper floor. The prayer hall had a vaulted wooden ceiling painted with a starry sky. During the pogrom of November 1938, the interior was probably devastated and damaged. In 1980, the exterior of the building was repaired.

The Münstermaifeld synagogue was built in 1885-86. The Jewish community of Münstermaifeld already had a synagogue in the Middle Ages, mentioned in 1429. In 1816, a prayer room in a private house on Brunnengasse, which had been established after 1694, is mentioned. In 1885-86, the Jewish community built the new synagogue on a piece of land on Severusstrasse, which was renovated in the 1920s. During the pogrom of November 1938, the synagogue was devastated and burnt down.

The synagogue in Fußgönheim was built in 1842. A Jewish community lived in Fußgönheim from 1684; a Jewish cemetery existed in the village from 1821 at the latest. The synagogue, built in 1842, burnt down on 19th August 1901 but was rebuilt the following year. Closed from 1928, the building was spared the pogroms of November 1938 and was used as a warehouse until then. Since 1997, the former synagogue building has been used by the German Potato Museum. Inside, some of the decorative paintings from the Jewish period have been preserved.