Synagogue and Mikvah—Jewish Quarter

The First Synagogue

Of the earliest building of 1034, only the endowment stone plate is extant. After the devastations of the 11th- and 12th-century Crusades, a new building was constructed in 1174/1175 in the Romanesque style of the Cathedral masons’ guild. In 1212/1213 the ‘women’s synagogue’ was added to this ‘men’s synagogue’. The mikvah, a subterranean ritual bath, was constructed as early as 1185\ 1186. The men’s synagogue was designed as a double-span hall on two columns, with an apse containing the torah shrine. Following alterations and several destructions (pogroms), a small college (yeshiva) was added in 1624, called Rashi chapel. The whole complex was home to the old and influential Jewish community of Worms. Burnt and pulled down in 1938 and 1942, the synagogue was reconstructed—partly by using original materials—and re-consecrated in 1961. With hardly any members of the Jewish community left, the synagogue is today part of—and sometimes used by—the Jewish community of Mainz, which recently incorporated the that of Worms, which is gradually.

The area embraced by the northeastern bend of the Mediaeval city wall with its characteristic multi-storey houses had been inhabited by Jews from the 10th century. The first synagogue mentioned in Worms was built in 1034. The circumstances are described in the endowment plate fixed next to the entrance of today’s late-Romanesque men’s synagogue. It says that Jacob ben David and his wife Rachel eroded all their assets to build ‘a house’—that is, the synagogue—and to embellish it with facilities. This synagogue was a stone building constructed just about in the place of the present-day yeshiva.

A precondition for building such a synagogue was the existence of a considerable community. A renowned college was part of the first synagogue, but there is no evidence of that school in the vicinity of the former synagogue. One of the school’s students, who was to rise to great fame as one of Western Judaism, was Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac from Troyes, France, known as Rashi. He studied here in the time around 1060. Created in 1995 by sculptor Wolf Spitzer from Speyer, a statue in the courtyard of the synagogue is dedicated to him. The first synagogue was damaged in the wake of the 1096 Crusade.

The Men’s Synagogue

A new synagogue was built in 1174/1175, at the very time when the new Romanesque Cathedral was constructed. This men’s synagogue was erected by the craftsmen of the Cathedral masons’ guild. Thus the ornamentic art of the porch and the column capitals in the interior are quite similar to the artworks found in the Cathedral.

The men’s synagogue is an oriented, double-span hall structured by two columns supporting the vault. The inscription on the eastern column capital’s impost refers to the years 1174/1175. These column capitals were the most exquisite examples of the so called Worms or Strasbourg capitals.

The original columns were destroyed in the course of the devastations in the Nazi era. However, the porch is preserved in its original form.

The Mikvah or Ritual Bath

In 1212/1213 a women’s synagogue was added to the north, a early-Gothic hall with a vault supported by a central column. Today it is used as a memorial room for the Jews from Worms murdered in the Nazi era. Its entrance portal (inside the porch) was designed in the characteristic style of the Cathedral guild.

According to another extant inscription, the mikvah, or ritual bath, was created as early as 1185/1186. Here the supports are crowned by simple block capitals. The synagogue was damaged several times and reconstructed both in the Middle Ages and in modern times, but also remodelled to meet contemporary demands. The aftermaths of the 1349 and 1615 pogroms were serious. Another inscription has it that the Rashi chapel was added to the west of the men’s synagogue in 1624, as well as the porch towards Synagogenplatz.

Reconstruction in 1961

In the 1938 pogrom, the synagogue was burnt down, and in the years following its ruins were intentionally devastated. Although the Jewish community was gone after the war, the municipality and the state and federal governments resolved in 1961 upon reconstructing the Worms synagogue for its unique historical and religious significance. At the northwestern corner of the men’s synagogue the original stonework of a height of 5ft is still visible. So the synagogue and its outbuildings convey the impression of a Mediaeval synagogue complex with a strong late-Romanesque portion.

Having emigrated or been murdered, the Jewish community of Worms perished in the Nazi era.

The most important exhibits

… the aron ha-kodesh (the Holy Ark) in the eastern wall
   enshrining the Torah scrolls (Pentateuch)

… ner-tamid (Perpetual Light) indicating the presence of
   Torah scrolls as a prerequisite to start the service

… bema (‘pulpit’) with a lectern to unroll and read from Torah

Opening Hours

… Apr—Oct
   daily 10am—12:30pm and 1:30—5pm

… Nov—Mar
   daily 10am—12pm and 2—4pm

Entrance Fees

Admission free.

Address

Jewish synagogue
Synagogenplatz
(in Judengasse)
67547 Worms

The synagogue on the city map (German).

Contact

Jewish Museum in Rashi House
Hintere Judengasse 6
67547 Worms
phone +49 6241 853-4700
fax +49 6241 853-4710
e-mail stadtarchiv@worms.de

The Jewish Museum on the city map (German).