Jewish Traces in Görlitz
The Synagogue is the most visible evidence of Jewish history in Görlitz. Those interested can also explore other locations, for example the Jewish Cemetery or the Old Synagogue, now a house of literature. The Jewish inhabitants of Görlitz were an important and influential part of the citizenry. Many of their houses and town villas are still preserved today.
Cultural Forum Görlitz Synagogue
Consecrated in 1911, this place of worship was created by the architects William Lossow and Max Hans Kühne for the then rapidly growing Jewish community. The structure on Otto-Müller-Straße was a symbol of the self-confidence and modernity of the community at that time. It was the only one in Saxony that was not destroyed during the Pogrom Night in 1938 and is now a monument of national importance. The Art Nouveau building has been extensively restored since 1991 and reopens 2021 as the Cultural Forum Görlitz Synagogue.
Cultural Forum Görlitz Synagogue
Address: Otto-Müller-Straße 3, 02826 Görlitz
Telephone: +49 3581 6692132
Note: Due to events in the house, there may be changes to the opening or closing times. We therefore ask you to inform yourself about the opening times of the house in advance of your planned visit.
The team of SIGHTGEIST, the digital magazine of the State of Saxony, visited the Jewish places in Görlitz. Watch the video to join the tour.
Jewish Cemetery
The Jewish Cemetery in Görlitz was created by the Jewish community 1849, two years after the community was founded there. After the first burial in 1852, it was expanded in 1860.
© Thomas Schneider
Literature House Old Synagogue
This recently renovated building was a house of worship for fifty-seven years until the new synagogue on Otto-Müller-Straße was built in 1911. Today it’s a meeting place for all those interested in culture and literature. Readings, lectures and evenings of discussion take place and there is a library with books by Jewish and Görlitz authors. The rooms are also the venue for chamber concerts by the New Lusatian Philharmonic.
Literature House Old Synagogue
Address: Langenstraße 24
Telephone: +49 163 6351660
© Europastadt GmbH
Jewish Bath (Mikveh)
Parts of a Jewish bath, also known as a mikveh, are thought to have been located at Nikolaistraße 5/6, in today's Hotel Paul Otto. The ritual immersion bath is located in the approx. 5.20 m deep cellar vault of the house. At the beginning of the 1980s, the buried drainage system made of sandstone and bricks was discovered, and the Görlitz monument preservation team restored it. The mikveh is mainly fed by the water of the Petersberg, which flows down to the Lunitz, ensuring a constant supply of fresh water. The establishment of the bath is dated to the 14th century, a time when Jewish settlers took up residence in the area of today’s Nikolaistraße, in the so-called Jüdenring (Jewish Ring). They were later expelled due to the plague and did not settle here again until the middle of the 19th century.
© Hotel Paul Otto
Stolpersteine
Görlitz also has Stolpersteine, or stumbling stones, which are there to remind us of the fate of people who were persecuted, murdered, deported, expelled or driven to suicide during the Nazi era. So far there are 21 of the square brass stones to be found in front of residential buildings, many of them within walking distance of the old and inner city, e.g., on Jakobstraße, Postplatz, or Salomonstraße.
To the locations of the Stolpersteine and the people they remind us of: Förderkreis Synagoge and Stolperstein Guide (please scroll down for english version)