The Alte Synagoge (Old Synagogue) in Erfurt, Germany, is one of the best preserved medieval synagogues in Europe, its oldest parts dating back to the late 11th century. Most parts of the building date from around 1250–1320. Due to the fact that its roof is still standing, it is thought to be the oldest synagogue building intact in Europe and the world.
Since 2009 it has been used as a museum of local Jewish history. It houses the Erfurt Treasure, a hoard of medieval coins, goldsmiths' work and jewellery found in 1998. It also has facsimiles of the Erfurt Hebrew Manuscripts, an important collection of 12th–14th century religious texts that belonged to the medieval Jewish community of Erfurt.
The Historic Synagogues of Europe project, carried out by the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has given the Old Synagogue, Erfurt its highest level of significance rating: 4 (International) – "The building is of outstanding architectural, urban or historical importance. It has unique features and/or is especially influential internationally as an architectural pattern."
In 2023, UNESCO has included the Jewish-medieval sites in Erfurt as a World Heritage Site.
History and Preservation
The oldest parts of the building have been dated by dendrochronology to 1094. There was a second construction phase in the 12th century, from which part of the western wall, with a sandstone double-arched window, has been preserved.
Around 1270, a larger synagogue incorporating parts of the earlier building was constructed. The western façade, with five lancet windows and a large rosette window, dates from this time. In the early 1300s, it was extended and another storey was added.
After the Erfurt Massacre of 1349, in which the Jewish population was murdered and expelled from the city, the synagogue was damaged. The city of Erfurt took ownership of the building and later sold it to a local merchant. It was converted into a warehouse and a vaulted cellar was built underneath. The alterations considerably changed the interior of the building. For the next 500 years it was used for storing goods.
From the 19th century, the building had various uses and had at different periods a ballroom, a restaurant and even two bowling alleys. These changes, and changes to the surrounding buildings, meant that the Old Synagogue, which is on a back lot down a narrow alleyway, was largely forgotten about. Its history wasn't recognised, which helped to protect it during the Nazi period.
It was not until the late 1980s that interest was awakened in the old building. The architectural historian Elmar Altwasser began to research it in 1992. Erfurt City Council bought the property in 1998 and extensively researched and conserved it.
"During the conservation, great emphasis was put on the preservation of all traces of use: those dating from synagogal use as well as those from later alterations. Owing to this careful conservation and restoration, medieval as well as younger building phases are still easy to perceive." Permanent Delegation of Germany to UNESCO (2015) Old synagogue and Mikveh in Erfurt
In 2007 a rare and particularly well-preserved Jewish ritual bath, a Mikveh, dating from 1250 was discovered by archeologists not far from the Old Synagogue, near Erfurt's Krämerbrücke (Merchants' Bridge). The mikveh has been accessible to visitors on guided tours since September 2011.
In 2015 the Old Synagogue, Mikveh and the 'Stone House', a secular building from 1250 in Erfurt's medieval city centre which had Jewish owners, were together nominated as a World Heritage Site. This has been tentatively listed but a final decision has not yet been made.
Museum
The Old Synagogue was opened as a museum on 27 October 2009.
The museum permanently houses the Erfurt Treasure, a hoard of 3141 silver coins, weighing , and over 700 pieces of goldsmiths' work and jewellery that is thought to have belonged to Jews who hid them at the time of the Erfurt massacre in 1349. The collection, which weighs almost in total, was found in 1998 in the wall of a house at Michaelisstraße 43, in a medieval Jewish neighbourhood, near the Synagogue. The treasure has been exhibited in Berlin, Paris, London, New York and Tel Aviv.