Leipzig synagogue

(Also called " the temple " or later Old Synagogue ) The Great Synagogue church in Leipzig was the oldest and most important synagogue of the city. It was built in 1854-1855 according to the plans of Semper 's student Otto Simonson. The foundation stone was laid on September 9, 1854. September 10, 1855, the new synagogue by Rabbi Adolf Jellinek was handed over their destiny. During the November pogroms, the church was destroyed and put on the night of November 9 to 10, 1938 in fire. From November 11th 1938 to February 12, 1939, the demolition of the ruins at the cost of the Israelite Community. The synagogue was immediately west of the promenade ring in the Gottschedstraße 3, corner of Central Street.

Architecture

Ground plan

The synagogue had the outline of a dragon square. Two rows of four columns excluded from the nave from the aisles, the aisles were cut at an angle due to the floor plan. In the West, a tower was located in the central axis of the nave. Between the outer walls of the aisles and the outer boundary walls, interstices, where towers with stairways were built were. These towers provided access to the women's gallery. Joined the West Tower on the central axis of the main building to the north towards a lower building with entrance porch, cloakroom, courtyard and a small synagogue on weekdays.

Exterior architecture

From the floor plan only the eastern tip of the kite was seen, which ranged in a street corner to the east. Before the eastern tip beveled at the street corner sat Simonson the semicircular apse, the Torah shrine, fan-like joined at the show, the two sides of the Leipzig synagogue on both road sides at the same height. Thus, the east side was on the street corner to the actual show facade. The two charts facades, who met at an acute angle in the corner, were divided into four axes of Simonson. Each of these durchfensterten with twin windows in the basement and first floor axes was decorated by a blind arch horseshoe format.

About two-storey shop facade, which had the shape of a pointed triangle, rose like a box the three-story nave. The nave was given a five-part arcaded frieze and the Tablets of the Law as a crown.

Interior Design

The sacred building was built as a gallery basilica for 1600 visitors, in which Indo- Islamic architecture was used.

Two rows of four columns excluded the three-story nave from the two-story side aisles with galleries woman. The two rows with four columns were on the ground floor as a top degree " rectangular apertures whose interstices filled by small lobed arch parts" were, and as a top end on the second floor large horseshoe arches. Above the horseshoe arches of the side aisles with the women's galleries out, three -piece, also horseshoe-shaped windows were as clerestory, which were surrounded by a high rectangular aperture.

The coffered ceiling was symmetrically divided into three longitudinal zones, which hung at the interfaces between the transverse and longitudinal beams small stalactites. Rosettes, interconnected squares and loops formed a pattern that was reminiscent of the Spanish- Islamic architecture.

The east side was adorned with an ensemble from the pulpit at the northeast corner, bimah and ark. The pulpit of the synagogue was comparable with a pulpit of a Christian religious building, the decorated with stalactites base of the pulpit and the Kuppelbekrönung to Islamic mosques pulpits or Minbar remembered. Behind a grating there was the Bima. The reading desk was specially before a further increased lattice. At this high latticework led on both sides going up stairs. The wall of the Toraschreins was divided into three parts symmetrically with a broad central and lateral narrow side panels.

Organ

The synagogue was in 1868 or 1856, built by a Weißenfelser organ builder Friedrich Ladegast two-manual organ with 20 registers on traktierten mechanically grinding shop. The organ was destroyed in 1938 along with the synagogue.

Disposal

• Pairing: Manual coupling
• Pedal coupling

Specifications

• Number of Pipes: Main work - 684
• Oberwerk - 270
• Pedal - 135

• Kept in Moorish style

• 3 Kastenbälge

Presence

On November 18, 1966, a little from Leipzig sculptor Hans -Joachim Förster ( born 1929 ) was inaugurated created memorial stone from Cottaer sandstone in memory of the Jewish community and to the destruction of their temple at the former north facade.

The site of the former synagogue had for decades served as a car park and the site of a transformer station. After the city of Leipzig had become owner of the land until 1997, she praised in 1999 in collaboration with the Israelite Community an Saxony wide open anonymous competition from, which includes ten international artists were invited. Finally they decided on the design of the Leipzig Sebastian Helm ( b. 1969 ) and Anna Dilengite ( b. 1970 ), who made it in the competition only on the short list for realization.

After decision of the majority stake in the Leipzig City Council in October 2000, the property was transformed into a large-scale memorial. Inaugurated on June 24, 2001 time draws on an area of ​​12 × 12 meters according to the floor plan of the destroyed building. The interior forms a field of 140 empty bronze chairs that will make the loss of the architectural envelope experienced. The western property line forms one wall of exposed concrete with texts in English, German and Hebrew on three bronze tablets.