Synagoge Zell - Zell (Mosel), RLP, DE
N 50° 01.692 E 007° 10.916
32U E 369784 N 5543349
The former synagogue of Zell (Mosel), nowadays a monument to remember.
Waymark Code: WM192EX
Location: Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Date Posted: 11/14/2023
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The history of the synagogue
In 1849, the then district administrator Alexander Moritz sold the upper floors of the Domestiken building (servants' quarters) belonging to Zell Castle to the Israelite community of Briedel-Zell, represented by Jacob Hirsch and Jacob Bermann from Zell and Moses Hirsch from Briedel, for 300 Prussian thalers. Certain conditions were stipulated in the purchase contract, including having an entrance door to the east broken so that visitors to the synagogue did not have to pass through the castle courtyard to the prayer hall.
By 1900, when the entire community had grown to over 100 people, the synagogue in the castle had become too small. The community decided to build a new synagogue. This was to be realised on the property at Balduinstraße 5. The ground floor of the new synagogue was completed by the outbreak of the First World War. The war prevented further construction of the synagogue. The building capital invested in war bonds was lost; the shell of the building had to be auctioned off in 1920. The Hotel Meyer was later built over the completed ground floor walls (no longer exists).
As it was no longer possible to build a new synagogue, the community invested the proceeds from the sale of the ruined building in Balduinstraße in the extensive renovation of the old synagogue in the castle in the 1920s, which was carried out by the Zell architect Otto Finé. Among other things, a women's gallery was installed, the Torah shrine enlarged, electric lighting installed, the room repainted and much more.
Services were held in the synagogue until 1938. During the November pogrom of 1938, all religious artefacts were removed by the local police before a squad of SA thugs completely demolished the prayer room. The entire interior was demolished, some of it stolen. Arson was not permitted due to the danger to the castle. On 14 November 1939, the Jewish community (under the last community leader, the Bullay butcher Gustav Harf) had to sell the former synagogue to the castle owner Bohn for RM 1,000. A year later, the room was rented by the textile merchant P.J. Piacenza as a storage room, also to protect it from further desecration.
After 1945, the Zell mayors Döpgen and Bamberg endeavoured to preserve the former synagogue as a memorial. After the castle became a listed building, another change of ownership took place and a "Friends of Zell Synagogue" campaigned for its restoration and future worthy use, the restoration of the former synagogue was completed between 2002 and 2003. The inauguration took place on 25 October 2003. Since then, the former synagogue has served as a memorial to the former Jewish history and as a space for cultural events.
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