Munich - 3 Herzog Rudolf Strasse (formerly Kanalstrasse), Ohel Yaakov Synagogue [München / Muenchen]

Summary: The introduction of liturgical reforms in 1875/76 prompted a group of Orthodox Jews within Munich’s Jewish community to found the Ohel Yaakov Association, which was also known as the Society for the Advancement of Jewish Studies. Its members initially met for services in a prayer room at 29 Kanalstrasse (later renamed Herzog Rudolf Strasse). Wealthy members of the Ohel Yaakov Association financed the construction of a new synagogue at 24 Kanalstrasse (after 1903 its address was 3 Herzog Rudolf Strasse). An architect by the name of August Exter was assigned the task of designing the structure. The inauguration took place on March 25, 1892. The synagogue was a Romanesque, two-story building with a cupola. It contained seating for 250 worshipers. The congregation observed Orthodox rites. Heinrich and Ernst Ehrentreu served as rabbis. Lothar Feuchtwanger, Eugen Merzbacher and Sigmund Fraenkel were among the congregation’s leading members. In 1907 an annex housing a janitor’s apartment and a library was added to the synagogue building. A Jewish school was opened at 5 Herzog Rudolf Strasse in 1924; its building was enlarged in 1928. On Pogrom Night (November 1938), SA men destroyed the synagogue’s interior. They set the synagogue and the school on fire. Torah scrolls and other ritual items were burned. The synagogue’s ruins were torn down in June and July of 1939. In January 1939, prayer services and lessons in religion recommenced, at least for a while, at 1, Herzog Rudolf Strasse, where today a commemorative plaque serves as a reminder of the devastation of the synagogue during the pogrom.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, BHKOZ, FJG, MGE, SG-B1, SIA, SZJLB, VTJKM
gemeinden.judentum.de/muenchen/synagogen.htm