24. Synagogue
We are standing in front of the former synagogue, renovated between 1998 and 2013. The sacral building was constructed in 1885/86 in Neo-Romanesque and Neo-Moorish style. On 10th November 1938 it was set afire and destroyed. Only the outer walls remained standing.
Photos show a reconstruction of the interior.
Evidence of Jews residing in Münstermaifeld dates back to the 13th c., evidence of a house of prayer to 1323, of a cemetery to 1409. The Jews of the town buried their dead in Eltzer Forest until 1869, after that in the cemetery near Mertloch.
Evidence of Jews residing in Münstermaifeld dates back to the 13th c., evidence of a house of prayer to 1323, of a cemetery to 1409. The Jews of the town buried their dead in Eltzer Forest until 1869, after that in the cemetery near Mertloch. From the beginning of the 19th c. until 1933, there were always about 60-70 Jewish citizens residing in the town.We know the number and names of the victims who died in the late medieval pogroms: 90 men, women and children were murdered on 17 th July 1287. This pogrom was a part of the persecutions which took place in retaliation for the alleged ritual murder of the "saint" Werner of Oberwesel.We know the location of a prayer room built at the end of the 17th c. - Bornstraße Number 3.
In the picture from the 1920s, we can see the family of Moritz Diewald who had a butcher shop in this building: Standing out front, Selma Diewald, murdered in Auschwitz, their daughter Hilde, murdered at an unknown location, and their son Egon, who died in Ober-Ramstadt in 1939. Moritz Diewald is in the back window - he was killed in Dachau in 1942.
30 Jewish men, women and children from Münstermaifeld were murdered, 38 survived by fleeing.
Glossary
Synagogue
Inside the synagogue there is extensive documentation on the history of the synagogue and the synagogue community.
Architecture
The synagogue in Münstermaifel is stylistically closely related to the synagogue in Polch, which was built shortly before. It is a typical representative of a mixed style. With the crowning by pinnacles, the apse-like end and the rose window, it follows the Christian church building. In contrast, the horseshoe arch windows correspond to the Moorish style. In this way, the architecture tried to combine adaptation to the Christian environment with independence.