You are standing on the site where the majestic consistorial synagogue on Quai Kléber once stood. Built between 1895 and 1898, it was burned down and destroyed by the Nazis on September 12, 1940.
Head to the concrete wall, where four old photos testify to the beauty and monumentality of the building before its tragic destruction.
Ludwig Lévy from Karlsruhe, a renowned architect, was the project manager. Author of a dozen synagogues and churches, notably in Germany, he was the architect of the two ministries in Strasbourg, located north of Place of the Republic.
The inauguration took place on September 8, 1898, while in France Emile Zola had just published his famous "J'accuse", in defense of Captain Dreyfus.
Elegantly blending into the landscape, the imposing Romanesque Revival synagogue looked really good. The building, in the shape of a Greek cross, had a 54-metre-high octagonal tower in its centre, reminiscent of that of Worms Cathedral. Its majestic façade on the Quai Kléber was topped by a large rose and framed by two towers. With its harmonious volumes, the synagogue could compete with the most beautiful buildings in the city.
Inside, the nave, 46 metres long, was flanked by galleries intended to accommodate women. The synagogue could accommodate more than 1,600 people. At the end of the nave, behind the pulpit, was a monumental Holy Ark, intended to house the Torah scrolls. A magnificent gallery with oriental decoration housed the organ. Stained glass windows and murals completed the décor, magnified by electric lighting.
For centuries, the Jewish community had to keep a low profile. This synagogue was a monumental symbol of the Jewish presence in the city. Witness to the architecture of the Wilhelminian era, it was one of the jewels of the Neustadt, now listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It attested to the successful emancipation of modern Judaism, well integrated into the city.
Until 1939, the synagogue was a center of cultural and spiritual influence. A place of intense religious life punctuated by daily prayers, Shabbat, family celebrations and ritual festivals, it also served as the setting for ceremonies to commemorate national holidays between 1918 and 1939.
The size of the Jewish community in Strasbourg had more than doubled between 1900 and 1935 to reach more than 9,000 souls in 1935.
But with the rise of Nazism from 1933 onwards, the entry of France into the war in September 1939, and the annexation of Alsace to the Reich in 1940, times darkened.
The beautiful synagogue on Quai Kléber was set on fire on 12 September 1940 by members of the Hitler Youth. In 1941, the Nazis razed what was left of the building to erase its traces and thus erase all traces of the Jewish presence.
exterior and interior photos and devastated @Michel Rothé
