Liberal synagogues in Hamburg
At the momentHamburg no longer has its own liberal synagogue. Our church uses premises that we are allowed to use for our church services and church activities thanks to the friendly support of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City.
We are committed to getting our own liberal synagogue back in Hamburg together with our own community center / kindergarten for our growing community.
Before our congregation was destroyed in the Shoah, our congregation had owned several synagogues in Hamburg since it was founded in 1817.
First Brunnenstrasse/Steinstrasse
The first reform synagogue/templeOur congregation was rented and inaugurated on October 18, 1818 in the southern Neustadt in the first fountain street. Notables were Israel Bresselau, Lazarus Gumpel and Ruben Daniel Warbung.
The building was the first synagogue in the world with an organ, German sermon and mixed choral singing.
The New Temple Poolstrasse
The new temple on Poolstrassewas built from 1842 to 1844 by the architect Johann Hinrich Klees-Wülbern. dr In 1843, Gabriel Riesser sel. A. obtained permission to buy and register the Poolstrasse synagogue in the name of the Temple Association. In 1937 our community was forced to sell the building below its value.
The remains of the western vestibule and the eastern apse of the former three-nave church are still preserved as war ruins. The main nave was destroyed by a bomb in 1944. The outbuildings have survived undamaged to this day.
After the Shoah, the building was unlawfully wound up by the Jewish Trust Co.
Temple Oberstrasse
The temple at Oberstrasse 120in Hamburg-Harvestehude was the last synagogue of our community before the Shoa and it was inaugurated in 1932. The synagogue was one of the largest liberal synagogues in northern Germany and held 1,200 people.
In addition to a weekday synagogue, the Heinrich Levy Hall, the synagogue also had an organ and a mixed choir. In 1938 the temple on Oberstrasse was desecrated and damaged.
In 1939, our community was forced to sell the building to the city of Hamburg below its value. After the Shoah, the building was unlawfully wound up by the Jewish Trust Co and later sold to the Norddeutscher Rundfunk. To date, no restitution has taken place.
After the flight of the then state rabbi Dr. Bruno Italian sel. A. the congregation was founded by Rabbi Dr. Joseph Norden sel. A. supervised.
He looked after the community until his deportation to Theresienstadt, where he died. The services took place in the Logensaal - today the Kammerspiele. Many parishioners died or were expelled during the Shoah.
We cherish your memory
Until 2004there were no more liberal services in Hamburg, although liberal Judaism was co-founded in Hamburg.
We are currently celebrating our services in a gym that we have to share with other organizers.
