Jüdisches Museum Franken

Ansbach (Middle Franconia)

Synagogue

There is evidence of Jewish life in Ansbach going back to the early 14th century. Leopold Retty built a baroque-style synagogue there between 1744 and 1746. Damaged during the anti-Jewish pogrom in November 1938, the house of worship was forcibly sold to the local municipality. It was turned into a food warehouse in 1945. Soon after the war, American soldiers and Jewish refugees held religious services there again. Since 1964, the former synagogue has been used several times a year for exhibitions and cultural events. A mikveh (ritual bath) is located in the building’s inner courtyard. A chuppa stone (wedding stone) is set into the façade: On that stone, newlyweds would break a glass as a traditional symbol of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and of the transience of joy.

The cemetery at the northern outskirts of town (Joseph-Fruth-Platz) contains graves from the 19th and early 20th centuries. A memorial stone provides information on the community’s destruction under National Socialism and the postwar desecrations from 1948 to 1950.

Information center
Ansbach Synagogue
Rosenbadstraße 3
D-91522 Ansbach
www.synagoge-ansbach.de
info@synagoge-ansbach.de

Opening hours:
May-September: every second and fourth Sunday a month,
3pm-5pm
and by arrangment

Tour booking:
City of Ansbach
Office for Culture and Tourism
Johann-Sebastian-Platz 1
Tel. +49 (0)981 51 243
Fax +49 (0)981 51 365
akut@ansbach.de
www.ansbach.de

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