{"id":50896,"date":"2021-07-05T17:04:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T15:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/?page_id=50896"},"modified":"2021-07-05T17:04:05","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T15:04:05","slug":"the-siegen-synagogue","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/en\/the-siegen-synagogue","title":{"rendered":"The Siegen Synagogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=\u201e1\u201c module_id=\u201einfo\u201c _builder_version=\u201e4.9.4\u201c _module_preset=\u201edefault\u201c background_color=\u201e#99b2b7\u201c][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u201e4.9.4\u201c _module_preset=\u201edefault\u201c][et_pb_column type=\u201e4_4\u201c _builder_version=\u201e4.9.4\u201c _module_preset=\u201edefault\u201c][et_pb_image src=\u201ehttps:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Window.svg\u201c title_text=\u201eWindow\u201c admin_label=\u201eIcon Synagoge Siegen\u201c _builder_version=\u201e4.9.4\u201c _module_preset=\u201edefault\u201c width=\u201e15vw\u201c width_tablet=\u201c\u201c width_phone=\u201e20vw\u201c width_last_edited=\u201eon|phone\u201c module_alignment=\u201ecenter\u201c][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u201e4.9.4\u201c _module_preset=\u201edefault\u201c text_font=\u201c||||||||\u201c text_text_color=\u201c#FFFFFF\u201c header_font=\u201c|700||on|||||\u201c header_text_align=\u201ecenter\u201c header_letter_spacing=\u201e1px\u201c header_line_height=\u201e1.3em\u201c header_3_font=\u201c|300|||||||\u201c header_4_font=\u201c|300|||||||\u201c background_layout=\u201edark\u201c header_font_size_tablet=\u201c\u201c header_font_size_phone=\u201e24px\u201c header_font_size_last_edited=\u201eon|phone\u201c]<\/p>\n

The Siegen Synagogue<\/h1>\n

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Designed by the renowned Berlin architect Eduard F\u00fcrstenau (1862\u20131938), the synagogue was designed according to the rules of moderate Orthodox Judaism: Women and men sat strictly separately \u2013 the space of worship had 90 seats for men downstairs and 70 seats for women in the gallery. At the same time, the room offered space for a choir and a harmonium, which was frowned upon in strict Orthodox congregations. The congregation lacked the money for an organ and a heating system, which was not installed until 1929. The building also contained a schoolroom, a ritual bath, storage and changing rooms, toilets, and a janitor\u2019s apartment.<\/h6>\n
F\u00fcrstenau was responsible for the construction of two other synagogues in Dortmund and Bielefeld around the same time, which were inaugurated in 1900 and 1905, respectively. They were incomparably larger than the ones in Siegen \u2013 nevertheless, the three are referred to as \u201esister synagogues.\u201c<\/h6>\n

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When the foun\u00adda\u00adtion stone for the Siegen synagogue was laid on July 23, 1903, the event attracted attention throug\u00adhout German Jewry: the Allge\u00admeine Zeitung des Judentums,<\/em> published in Berlin, paid tribute to the \u201esolemn act\u201c with a detailed article in its July 31 issue. The reporter referred to the special situation of the Siegen community, for it was located in \u201ethe main town in St\u00f6cker\u2019s consti\u00adtuency, where Jewry has enough to fight against preju\u00addices and miscon\u00adcep\u00adtions anyway.\u201c Thus, it must be \u201eparti\u00adcu\u00adlarly concerned (\u2026) to appear dignified to the outside world as well.\u201c<\/div>\n

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The document for the laying of the foun\u00adda\u00adtion stone was written by Simon Gr\u00fcnewald. Among other things, it contains an outline of the history of the Siegen Jews since 1815. In addition to the document, the statutes for the synagogue congre\u00adga\u00adtion and the Israelite Women\u2019s Asso\u00adcia\u00adtion as well as the cemetery regu\u00adla\u00adtions for the Jewish burial ground were also walled in a cassette.<\/div>\n

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Interior photograph of the Siegen Synagogue [Source: Berlinische Galerie \u2013 State Museum of Modern Art, Photography and Architecture].<\/h6>\n

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The construction work progressed quickly so that the Richtfest<\/em> (topping-out ceremony) could already be celebrated on October 15, 1903. The Siegener Zeitung<\/em> was impressed by the \u201ebuilding with its pleasing forms\u201c: it did not \u201echange the image of the eastern part of our city to its disadvantage. \u201c<\/h6>\n

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The Allge\u00admeine Zeitung des Judentums<\/em> also reported on the \u201euplifting cele\u00adbra\u00adtion\u201c of the dedi\u00adca\u00adtion of the synagogue on July 22, 1904. However, in the list of guests of honor, which included the district admi\u00adnis\u00adtrator, the district commander, the member of the state parlia\u00adment, and the master craftsmen involved in the cons\u00adtruc\u00adtion, the names of the pastors were missing: \u201eThe clergymen of both deno\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtions, who had received invi\u00adta\u00adtions, had not responded.\u201c In addition to the Protes\u00adtant and Catholic pastors, the mayor of the city of Siegen was also absent. The absence of the head of the city and the repre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtives of Chris\u00adtia\u00adnity was unusual: in other cities where synago\u00adgues were inau\u00adgu\u00adrated during the Empire, civic and Christian commu\u00adni\u00adties were represented.<\/div>\n

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The local builder of the synagogue was the Siegen architect Hermann Giesler (1865\u20131941). His sons Paul (1895\u20131945) and Hermann (1898\u20131987), who also became archi\u00adtects, joined the National Socialist movement early on and took high ranks in the SA. Both brothers were among the leading elite in the Nazi state: Paul, among other things, as Gauleiter of West\u00adphalia-South and as Bavarian Minister President, Hermann as a confidant of Hitler. After the fall of Nazi Germany, Paul evaded his respon\u00adsi\u00adbi\u00adlity by commit\u00adting suicide. Hermann was sentenced to life impri\u00adson\u00adment by a U.S. military court in 1947 for homicide, but was released from prison as early as 1952. He remained a convinced National Socialist until his death in 1987.<\/div>\n

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Text: Uwe von Seltmann (2021)<\/p>\n

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\n
\u201eThe clergy of both deno\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtions, who had received invi\u00adta\u00adtions, had not responded.\u201c<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Allge\u00admeine Zeitung des Judentums<\/em>  (AUGUST 12, 1904)<\/p>\n

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The Siegen Synagogue\u00adDe\u00adsi\u00adgned by the renowned Berlin architect Eduard F\u00fcrstenau (1862\u20131938), the synagogue was designed according to the rules of moderate Orthodox Judaism: Women and men sat strictly sepa\u00adra\u00adtely \u2013 the space of worship had 90 seats for men down\u00ads\u00adtairs and 70 seats for women in the gallery. At the same time, the room offered [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":12,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-50896","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/synagoge-siegen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}