Glockengasse synagogue
Encyclopedia
The Synagogue in Glockengasse was a synagogue in Cologne
, that was built according to the plans of the architect of Cologne Dome Ernst Friedrich Zwirner
. It was built in the area of the previous Monastery of St. Clarissa, where a modest hall of prayer had been erected in the years of the French occupation and had been closed in 1853 because unsafe.
On June 10, 1856, after much discussion in the Jewish communal executive board whether it was better to build a synagogue in the same or a different spot, Abraham Oppenheim, son of Salomon Oppenheim
, announced his readiness to erect at his own cost and to present to the community a synagogue, worthy of the Glockengasse. Drucker-Emden, a member of the Jewish communal administration, supported the decision.
The cornerstone laying took place on June 23, 1857. On August 29, 1861 a procession moved from the provisional synagogue on St. Apernstrasse, over Breitestrasse and Columbastrasse, towards the new synagogue. It was dedicated to Rabbi Israel Schwarz. A memorial tablet dedicated to the donor was placed inside the synagogue and a medal of silver and bronze was struck.
In June 1867 a fire damaged the building. In the same year Albert, the son of Simon Oppenheim, Abraham’s brother, and his wife sold to the Jewish community a piece of ground on the south side of the synagogue and a strip on the east side that made possible to enlarge the synagogue, erect a smaller synagogue for week-day services and leave room for a court.
The fiftieth anniversary of the synagogue was celebrated in 1911. During World War I the large cupola, as well as the smaller ones, were deprived of their original copper covering. This copper had become one of the most beautiful, artistic cupolas in the City of Cologne with its original patina. In consequence of the removal the four towers on the outside pillars were dismantled and restored only in 1925 while the replacement of the copper covering was postponed for financial reasons.
The synagogue was destroyed during the Kristallnacht
on November 9, 1938 together with the other synagogues in Cologne. The modernist Cologne Opera
House now occupies the site. A bronze tablet on its façade on Offenbachplatz remembers the site of the synagogue.
The synagogue has been recreated in virtual form at
, that was covered by a dome
. The four arms of the cross had the same length, as in Byzantine architecture
buildings. Through the association of a cross form with a square room emerged on the corners. . The rooms on the side of the façade hold the staircases to the ladies gallery.
The dome was inscribed in the central square, in the middle of which stood the Bimah
.
The central position of the bimah shows that the Jewish community was attached to the old tradition, while the Roonstrasse Synagogue
had a new floor plan, that was developed according to the Reform Judaism
beliefs.
A low wing of the entrance hall was built with five rooms in front of the square building structure on the street side. The five rooms served as entrance to the staircases to the ladies gallery, as entrance for the men to the main synagogue and a space for the synagogue attendants (Shammes).
was flanked on both sides by wings and was terminated on top by a merlon
rim. Zwirner designed for small towers with the shape of minaret
s with small cupolas on top of the cornice
, in contrast to the Leopoldstädter Tempel
in Vienna
, in which the towers were crowned by columns.
The rose window
on the facade was a gothic art
influence. Over the crossing
there was a dome
with windows all around. At the top there was a lantern and an onion cupola.
The cupola measured forty meters in height and ten meters in diameter.
by Josef Hartzheim with rhombus
and with a theme of intricate quadrangles and painted by Friedrich Petri of Gießen
in blue, red and gold. The stucco work was related to the ones in Alhambra
.
The ladies galleries were supported by six columns, that owing to the iron construction had a very fine and graceful form, while the balustrade was decorated with stucco by Hartzheim and painted in gold by Petri.
The four large arches, that supported the dome, were decorated by Hartzheim and painted by Petri in the same way as the eastern wall.
The dome and the barrel vaults were the only structures that were not covered by stucco. They were painted by Petri in blue and decorated with golden stars.
“The windows were for the most part round, though some had the shape of a trefoil leaf. Through their colored glass a subdued light fell into the room and upon the richly decorated walls and pillars.”
The Aaron haKodesch had been made by the Cologne sculptor Stephan, he used Carrara
white marble and placed in the middle of the shrine a horse shoe arch
. Furthermore Stephan inserted the capitals from Alhambra and the minaret tower composition with onion cupolas from the façade around the Aaron haKodesch. The water basin of the Mikweh in the basement were also made by Stephan and the same marble as the Aaron was used.
The bimah
in the middle of the synagogue room was somewhat higher than usual and stood directly under the cupola. It was surrounded by a parapet of rich woodwork.
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, that was built according to the plans of the architect of Cologne Dome Ernst Friedrich Zwirner
Ernst Friedrich Zwirner
Ernst Friedrich Zwirner was an architect born at Jakobswalde in Silesia in 1802, he died at Cologne in 1861. He studied in Breslau and Berlin, and worked at the latter place under Karl Friedrich Schinkel....
. It was built in the area of the previous Monastery of St. Clarissa, where a modest hall of prayer had been erected in the years of the French occupation and had been closed in 1853 because unsafe.
On June 10, 1856, after much discussion in the Jewish communal executive board whether it was better to build a synagogue in the same or a different spot, Abraham Oppenheim, son of Salomon Oppenheim
Salomon Oppenheim
Salomon Oppenheim, Jr. was a German Jewish banker, the founder of the Sal. Oppenheim company.He was born in Bonn, the scion of an illustrious family of "Court Jews" who had served as advisers and moneylenders to the Prince-Archbishops of Cologne in the Rhineland area for several generations...
, announced his readiness to erect at his own cost and to present to the community a synagogue, worthy of the Glockengasse. Drucker-Emden, a member of the Jewish communal administration, supported the decision.
The cornerstone laying took place on June 23, 1857. On August 29, 1861 a procession moved from the provisional synagogue on St. Apernstrasse, over Breitestrasse and Columbastrasse, towards the new synagogue. It was dedicated to Rabbi Israel Schwarz. A memorial tablet dedicated to the donor was placed inside the synagogue and a medal of silver and bronze was struck.
In June 1867 a fire damaged the building. In the same year Albert, the son of Simon Oppenheim, Abraham’s brother, and his wife sold to the Jewish community a piece of ground on the south side of the synagogue and a strip on the east side that made possible to enlarge the synagogue, erect a smaller synagogue for week-day services and leave room for a court.
The fiftieth anniversary of the synagogue was celebrated in 1911. During World War I the large cupola, as well as the smaller ones, were deprived of their original copper covering. This copper had become one of the most beautiful, artistic cupolas in the City of Cologne with its original patina. In consequence of the removal the four towers on the outside pillars were dismantled and restored only in 1925 while the replacement of the copper covering was postponed for financial reasons.
The synagogue was destroyed during the Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
on November 9, 1938 together with the other synagogues in Cologne. The modernist Cologne Opera
Cologne Opera
The Cologne Opera refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company.-History of the company:...
House now occupies the site. A bronze tablet on its façade on Offenbachplatz remembers the site of the synagogue.
The synagogue has been recreated in virtual form at
Floor plan
It was the first example of a central plan over a Greek crossCross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
, that was covered by a dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
. The four arms of the cross had the same length, as in Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...
buildings. Through the association of a cross form with a square room emerged on the corners. . The rooms on the side of the façade hold the staircases to the ladies gallery.
The dome was inscribed in the central square, in the middle of which stood the Bimah
Bimah
A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...
.
The central position of the bimah shows that the Jewish community was attached to the old tradition, while the Roonstrasse Synagogue
Roonstrasse Synagogue
Roonstrasse Synagogue, located in Cologne, Germany, is one of the five pre-Nazi synagogues of the locality, which was destroyed on November 9, 1938 during nation-wide attacks on Jewish interests when Germany was under Nazi rule. The synagogue was subsequently rebuilt during the 1950s...
had a new floor plan, that was developed according to the Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
beliefs.
A low wing of the entrance hall was built with five rooms in front of the square building structure on the street side. The five rooms served as entrance to the staircases to the ladies gallery, as entrance for the men to the main synagogue and a space for the synagogue attendants (Shammes).
External architecture
A tall protruding risalitRisalit
A risalit, from the Italian risalto for "projection", is a German term which refers to a part of a building that juts out, usually over the full height of the building. In English the French term avant-corps is sometimes used. It is common in façades in the baroque period.A corner risalit is where...
was flanked on both sides by wings and was terminated on top by a merlon
Merlon
In architecture, a merlon forms the solid part of an embattled parapet, sometimes pierced by embrasures. The space between two merlons is usually called a crenel, although those later designed and used for cannons were called embrasures.-Etymology:...
rim. Zwirner designed for small towers with the shape of minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
s with small cupolas on top of the cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
, in contrast to the Leopoldstädter Tempel
Leopoldstädter Tempel
The Leopoldstädter Tempel was the largest synagogue of Vienna, in the district of Leopoldstadt. It was also known as the Israelitische Bethaus in der Wiener Vorstadt Leopoldstadt. It was built in 1858 in a Moorish Revival style by the architect Ludwig Förster...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, in which the towers were crowned by columns.
The rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
on the facade was a gothic art
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
influence. Over the crossing
Crossing (architecture)
A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...
there was a dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
with windows all around. At the top there was a lantern and an onion cupola.
The cupola measured forty meters in height and ten meters in diameter.
Internal architecture
The synagogue was, as already mentioned, a central building over a Greek cross, with a dome on top. The four Byzantine cross arms of the same length of the synagogue were all equipped with a barrel vault, in which the truss, the columns and the arches were made of cast iron. Except for the Eastern arm the other three arms were equipped with two floors of ladies galleries, while the Torah ark was placed on the eastern arm, where the wall was decorated with stuccoStucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
by Josef Hartzheim with rhombus
Rhombus
In Euclidean geometry, a rhombus or rhomb is a convex quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. The rhombus is often called a diamond, after the diamonds suit in playing cards, or a lozenge, though the latter sometimes refers specifically to a rhombus with a 45° angle.Every...
and with a theme of intricate quadrangles and painted by Friedrich Petri of Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
in blue, red and gold. The stucco work was related to the ones in Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
.
The ladies galleries were supported by six columns, that owing to the iron construction had a very fine and graceful form, while the balustrade was decorated with stucco by Hartzheim and painted in gold by Petri.
The four large arches, that supported the dome, were decorated by Hartzheim and painted by Petri in the same way as the eastern wall.
The dome and the barrel vaults were the only structures that were not covered by stucco. They were painted by Petri in blue and decorated with golden stars.
“The windows were for the most part round, though some had the shape of a trefoil leaf. Through their colored glass a subdued light fell into the room and upon the richly decorated walls and pillars.”
The Aaron haKodesch had been made by the Cologne sculptor Stephan, he used Carrara
Carrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
white marble and placed in the middle of the shrine a horse shoe arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
. Furthermore Stephan inserted the capitals from Alhambra and the minaret tower composition with onion cupolas from the façade around the Aaron haKodesch. The water basin of the Mikweh in the basement were also made by Stephan and the same marble as the Aaron was used.
The bimah
Bimah
A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...
in the middle of the synagogue room was somewhat higher than usual and stood directly under the cupola. It was surrounded by a parapet of rich woodwork.
Sources
- Adolf Kober, Cologne, The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1940
- Hannelore Künzl: Islamische Stilelemente im Synagogenbau des 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhunderts. Lang, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1984, ISBN 3-8204-8034-X. (Judentum und Umwelt, 9).
Zur Kölner Synagoge in der Glockengasse p. 123, 156, 186, 265, 283, 284, 296, 297, 298, 302, 303, 311, 312, 324, 348, 350, 365, 385, 397, 498.