Worms Synagogue

Interior

The Worms Synagogue, also known as Rashi Shul, is an 11th century synagogue located in Worms, Germany.

History

The first synagogue at the site was built in 1034 and is therefore regarded as the oldest existing synagogue in Germany. The building was first destroyed during the Crusade of 1096 and subsequenty rebuilt in 1175.

Pre-1938 interior of the Rashi Shul

On Kristallnacht in 1938 the synagogue was once again attacked and reduced to rubble. It was painstakingly reconstructed in 1961, using as many of the original stones that could be salvaged.^[1] The synagogue, open as a museum, continues to be a functioning synagogue used by the Jewish community.

In May 2010, the synagogue was firebombed by arsonists, suspected to be anti-Zionists^[2][3]. The firebombs were thrown against eight corners of the stone building and against a window, but no one was injured and no serious damage to the building was reported.

Architecture

Built at the point when late Romanesque style was fading and Gothic rising, the rectangular prayer hall features a pair of Romanesque columns supporting groin vaults. The windows in the thick stone walls are simple gothic arches. The windows in the adjoining study hall, the so called Rashi Shul, have rounded Romanesque arches. The women’s section of the prayer hall has Romanesque windows in the eastern wall, and gothic windows in the western wall.^[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Synagogues in Worms

Coordinates: 49°38′01″N 8°21′59″E / 49.6336°N 8.36634°E / 49.6336; 8.36634