Munich - Maxburg/Herzog Maxtrasse, Hauptsynagoge (Great Synagogue) [München / Muenchen]

Summary: Munich’s Hauptsynagoge, or “Great Synagogue,” on the corner of Maxburg and Herzogstrasse (today’s Lenbachplatz), was built to accommodate the city’s growing Jewish population. In 1882, the Bavarian king, Ludwig II, arranged for the Munich Jewish community to be given a plot of land opposite the Marburg in Munich’s city center, very close to the Frauenkirche Church. The building, which had a separate gallery for female congregants, was designed by the architect Albert Schmidt in the style of the late romantic period. At that time, with seating for almost 2,000 worshipers, the synagogue was the third largest in Germany. The synagogue was inaugurated amid great festivity in September 1887; according to newspaper reports, politicians and city dignitaries attended the ceremony, during which a procession solemnly carried 12 Torah scrolls into the building. The synagogue’s windows were smashed by vandals during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot in 1923. Munich’s Great Synagogue was one of the first in Germany to be destroyed by the Nazis (in June/July 1938). After a visit to Munich that year, Adolf Hitler himself complained that the synagogue was too close to the famous art exhibition center, the Deutsches Kuenstlerhaus, and was having a negative impact on the image of the important city-center street (Munich was particularly dear to his heart as the birthplace of the Nazi movement). The order was given to demolish the synagogue before the “German Art Day” celebrations of July 8, 1938. The official reason given for the demolition was the need to improve traffic flow. The leaders of the Jewish community were given very little notice that the demolition was about to be carried out. Many community members worked through the night to remove the Torah scrolls and ritual objects from the building. After demolition was completed, the municipality compensated the Jewish community for approximately 1/7 of the true value of the synagogue and the neighboring community center. As an emergency measure, the congregation moved some of its institutions to a Jewish-owned, but abandoned, cigarette factory; prayer services were held there on the production floor.

Author / Sources: Bronagh Bowerman
Sources: EJL, LJG
www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/this_month/april/01.asp