Visitor's Account

Bookending the famous Worms Cathedral on one side of town is the narrow, cobblestoned former Jewish ghetto and, on the other, the Judenfriedof, the spacious 900-year-old Jewish cemetery, the oldest preserved Jewish burial place in all of Europe.

Clearly, Jewish Worms once thrived.

Not only was it once home to an estimated 1,100 Jews, but Rabbi Shlomo ben Yizchak, or Rashi, made it his home for five years (from 1060 to 1065), a time during which he recorded such important commentary on Torah and Talmud that his writings are considered among the most piercing and paramount today.

A creatively rendered metal statue of Rashi, mounted on a pedestal, stands perhaps 6 feet off the ground, between Worms’ only synagogue, the Alte (or Old) Synagogue, built of brick in 1034, and a dank, Roman-style mikvah (mikwe, auf Deutsche).

Docent Margret Brensing, who spoke quite good English, told us that each year about 30,000 tourists visit the synagogue, its adjacent museum, The Rashi House, and the cemetery across town, a roughly 20-minute walk away.

The dog-eared guest book in the synagogue attests—in myriad languages—to Jewish Worms’ international interest.

To the tourist, Jewish Worms seems nearly untouched since 900, the year it came to life, according to a French-language informational pamphlet.

Surrounding the Jewish quarter—Judengasse—is a section of the huge brick edifice with little windows that at one time entirely enclosed Worms’ Jewish ghetto.

Shooting up from the very shadowed, uneven alleyways within the rampart are multi-story homes. On the day of our visit, these homes’ windows were tightly shuttered, adding to the neighborhood’s rather desolate feel.

The synagogue is in the center of the Judengasse; without its signage, however, it could be mistaken simply for a squat, A-frame house.

We entered the spare, yet warmly lit building through a side door and each placed an available kipah on our heads (we knew what to do but, just in case, a sign indicates that one should don a head covering here).

Brensing, the docent, explained Worms’ synagogue’s tumultuous past: Portions of it were destroyed in 1096 during the Crusades and then reconstructed, in vain, in 1175. For, in 1349, the town’s Jews were blamed for the Plague, and their synagogue again suffered.

“In 1945, after 1,000 years of Jewish history on the Rhine, there was no Jew left in Worms,” intones the male narrator in accented English of a poor-quality, 12-minute video available for viewing in the museum.

The narration continues, “The ‘Holy Community of Worms’ had ceased its existence.”

But, later, a physical rejuvenation and then a human one—albeit in different form—occurred.

Between 1957 and 1961, this shul—the oldest in all of Germany—was rebuilt, largely with money from the German government.

Today the synagogue has separate men’s and women’s sections, a modest, curtained Aron Ha’Kodesh, a stately menorah and, at the back, bookshelves filled with siddurim—in Hebrew, German and Russian.

Relics include a Haggadah from 1738, a Torah scroll from the 1800s and a Kiddush cup from the 1600s, made by a silversmith in Worms.

The synagogue, museum and Jewish cemetery all are open nearly every day of the week; the former two close during the day only for its docents’ lunch breaks.

So it seems that in a small town once virulently opposed to its Jewish residents, it’s again OK to be Jewish. In the 1990s, vandals damaged some of the tombstones in the cemetery, Brensing said, but that incident was an anomaly.

“Usually everything is quiet [here],” she said. “Usually these things don’t happen.”

And yet, there are security cameras about, but discreetly placed, Brensing said a bit conspiratorially.

“You need not look around; you probably don’t find them.”

http://www.jewishreview.org/node/9020

Destruction by French

I uploaded an article on the destruction of the synagogue in the late 1600's by the French in dropbox.

Here are some main points from it, copy and pasted..

French officials ordered the citizenry to abandon Worms on

May On that day, the old Bishop pleaded to remain (in his dome) but was refused. Many religious articles from the Worms synagogue were transferred temporarily to the Jewish community

in Metz.23 One official promised that the city would not be destroyed until June 2, but the French surprised the citizens, beginning the destruction by burning the deserted city, together with Speyer and Oppenheim, on May 31.

By noon, many of the buildings were ablaze. Those that were not consumed were turned into storage facilities and stables. The famous synagogue of Worms became a horse stall.

"The French tore down the eagle, which had been the

sign of the German Emperor's protection, from the city

gates. In its place, he erected the three lilies - the

symbol of the French monarchy. He then commanded

the burghers and the Jews to demolish the city walls.

They were further required to destroy all of the towers in

the city and the buttresses erected in the four corners of

the walls. Those towers, which could not be broken, were

coated with gunpowder and exploded. We Jews were then

in grave danger. One side of the Jewish street was

attached to the wall of the city, and many of the houses

were built into the wall and the towers. The entire Jewish

street and all of the Jews who lived there were faced with

annihilation. But God protected us so that no harm befell

a soul. The fragments of the exploded tower jetted to the

other side of the street. May the blessed God continue to

protect Israel.

At that point we still dwelt in tranquility. The thoughts

that the Frenchman might raze the city did not enter into

our minds. We believed that he had destroyed the walls

and the fortresses so that the Germans would not be able to

fortify themselves. We also believed that the French [like

the Germans] were interested in preserving Worms, for

they themselves had comforted us by saying, "Do not fear.

although we are under orders to destroy other cities, we will

spare Worms, for she is an ancient city." We were calmed,

for we accepted their words as truthful. The cities that they

had burned were far away, and we knew little of them. Yet

... we began to see their words were lies.

In the year 5449 [1689], the French decided to burn the

three cities of Worms, Speyers and Oppenheim.29 Since

they feared that the burghers of one city would revolt

against the French if the citizens witness[ed] their sister

cities being burnt ... they plotted to burn all three together.

Four weeks before the conflagrations, the French lit torches

on the highest points of all three cities to determine whether

the flames would be visible from one city to the next. The

result of this test was positive, and they subsequently

burned all three cities at once.

And we, the children of Worms, were forced to abandon

our homes and our properties and witness the destruction

of our holy community and forsake the holy synagogue.

We, the Jews of Worms, have remained scattered and

separated. May God have mercy upon us and protect all

Israel from the hand of the enemy. May He lead us all

together, through the Messiah, to Jerusalem, Amen"

Jews and the Crusades (behind first destruction of the Synagogue)

Expeditions from western Europe to recover Jerusalem and the holy sepulcher from the control of the infidel. The undisciplined mobs accompanying the first three Crusades attacked the Jews in Germany, France, and England, and put many of them to death, leaving behind for centuries strong feelings of ill will on both sides. The social position of the Jews in western Europe was distinctly worsened by the Crusades, and legal restrictions became frequent during and after them. They prepared the way for the anti-Jewish legislation of Innocent III., and formed the turning-point in the medieval history of the Jews. The outbursts did not come unexpectedly. Soon after Peter the Hermit and Urban II. had aroused the enthusiasm of French chivalry at the Council of Clermont in 1094, Godfrey de Bouillon declared that he would avenge the blood of Jesus on that of the Jews, and leave none of them alive, while his companions threatened to exterminate the Jews if they would not become converted. The Judæo-French communities accordingly sent letters to those on the Rhine, who thereupon appointed a fastday to avert the evil (Jan., 1096); and when Godfrey de Bouillon came to Cologne and Mayence each community made him a present of 500 silver marks to secure his protection. When Peter of Amiens arrived with the crusaders at Treves early in 1096, he did not directly arouse the people against the Jews, but left a general ill will against them throughout Lorraine, especially through the influence of the knight Volkmar, who declared that he would not leave the kingdom until he had slain at least one Jew. In the spring of 1096 twenty-two Jews were slain at Metz, and on May 3 the crusaders and accompanying rabble attacked the Jews of Speyer, slaying eleven of them and only being restrained by the exertions of Bishop John from putting them all to death in the synagogue. On May 18 the Jews of Worms were all slain except a few who were forcibly baptized or who took refuge with the bishop. Their houses were destroyed, and even the corpses denuded. Many slew themselves rather than fall into the hands of the mob. The bishop's palace was stormed a week later, and all those within it were put to death. The number of the slain is said to have amounted to 800, though the extant list of names reaches only 400 (Salfeld, "Martyrologium," p. 107). One of the richest Jewesses, named Minna, when surrounded by the mob and implored by some of her friends among the nobles to accept baptism, resolutely refused and was put to death. Several were drowned, and Mar Shemariah with his whole family was buried alive amid the jeers of the mob, who nevertheless during the entombment offered in vain to grant them safety if they would become converted (related to Tonks' link on the martyrs??).

Read more:http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=908&letter=C#3139#ixzz1Yj0Q0w6K

Results.
Before the Crusades the Jews had practically a monopoly of trade in Eastern products, but the closer connection between Europe and the East brought about by the Crusades raised up a class of merchant traders among the Christians, and from this time onward restrictions on the sale of goods by Jews became frequent (Höniger, in "Zeit. Gesch. Juden Deutsch." i. 94et seq.). The religious zeal fomented by the Crusades burned as fiercely against the Jews as enemies of Christ as against the Moslems. Thus both economically and socially the Crusades were disastrous for European Jews.


Read more:http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=908&letter=C#ixzz1Yj069nwJ

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=908&letter=C

Jewish Emancipation of 1812, Prussia

QUESTION: HOW DID THE INTERIOR OF THE SYNAGOGUE CHANGE AFTER 1812???


BELOW: BACKGROUND INFO ON 1812.












The French army swept through the German states in 1806, occupying the Rhineland, Westphalia, and the free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Luebeck. Jews living in these territories were emancipated in accordance with French law. Other states, free of French rule, nevertheless found themselves under pressure to adopt liberal reforms on the French model.


Prussia emancipated its Jewish population in 1812, and the Prussian decree, from which these excerpts come, remained the most liberal law concerning Jews in a German state until the revolutions of 1848.

We, Friedrich Wilhelm [III], by the grace of God, King of Prussia, etc., have resolved to grant the adherents of the Jewish faith in Our monarchy a new constitution suitable to the general welfare, and declare all laws and regulations concerning Jews [issued] hitherto, which are not confirmed by the present Edict as abolished, and decree as follows:


1. Jews . . . domiciled at present in Our state . . . are to be considered as natives and as Prussian state citizens.


2. The continuance of this qualification as natives and state citizens conferred upon them shall however be permitted only under the following obligation: that they bear strictly fixed family names, and that they useGerman or another living language not only in keeping their commercial books but also upon drawing their contracts and declaratory acts, and that they should use no other than German or Latin characters for their signatures . . .


8. They may therefore administer academic school teaching and municipal offices for which they qualified themselves . . .


11. They may acquire real estate of any kind same as the Christian inhabitants, and they may carry on any permitted trade.


(This clause was so ambiguous that Jews remained ineligible for judgeships, the officer corps, and some administrative positions. In any case, it was repealed altogether in 1822, as the result of a conservative backlash.)


14. Native Jews must not be burdened with special taxes.


15. Native Jews may contract marriages among themselves without a special permit 




http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode6/documents/documents_2.html 

From Google Translate

In the same century, as was one in Worms, jewish community, it was establishing its first synagogue. Fanatical participant in the Crusades damaged or destroyed the synagogue, so that it had to be built completely new1174/1175 already. 


This building remained, despite repeated destruction essentially same until 1938. These Worms synagogue, originally built by the Worms Dombauschule was, at that time as a model for the construction of other Romanesque synagogues. Thus, the same Dombauschule probably built the synagogue in Speyer with the corresponding women's bath, which was like the Worms.
The Worms synagogue or school of 1174/1175 was a jewel of architecture. The two capitals in the vaults of the interior were the most beautiful and most of their time well beyond of Worms.
The columns exhibit the typical Worms Dombauschule palmetto strip pattern. 

The women's synagogue was added on the north side of the synagogue and men connected with this through a little door and five windows. Although in traditional Judaism the woman's participation in the culture was exempt, even if it was not denied, it was held by the Jews early on in Rhineland-deutchschen a special respect for the woman who gave her at least indirectly share in the worship life. This synagogue was built in 1212/13.

Courtyard on the imaged synagogues played out during the approximately six hundred years from the existing ghettos, a large part of the Jewish. In the Rashi chapel, which in the 17th Century has been grown in the synagogue, will have been long been the school for children. Later this chapel served as a museum for the municipality of biggest son called Rashi (1040-1105), who here led a Talmudic school and wrote the most famous commentary on the Bible.

Though often destroyed, yet each time the synagogue in the same style, was rebuilt. The onset of emancipation of the Jews meant that 1812 were made ​​in the interior of the synagogue underwent strong alterations. Thus the Jewish perceived as typical bimah was demolished, so that the space was modeled accordingly. 1877 was the installation of an organ.

Name:

Germany, Worms, Kristallnacht: the Old Synagogue ("die Alte Synagoge") on fire, on 10/11/1938 at noon; the remains of the Synagogue were cleared off in 1942. 

Belongs to collection:

Yad Vashem Photo Archive

worms

The story of two martyrs of Worms

Synagogue Architecture basic design and some examples

This map should be more helpful than google map, but it's in German...

Hotel Zurichberg - narrative of the transient.

-architecture  is a narrative of the transient nature of the guests and their stays.
-focus is on the circulation-  a circular ramp continues throughout the centre of the building from the moment of entrance and connects directly to the rooms.
-the centre is a place of movement- is a non- occupiable space.
-large scale elements in the architecture is the backdrop against which the stories of the guests are acted out---  movable furniture record the actions of the guests; the folding shutters that forms a continuity with the facade when shut also creates a screen depicting, or hiding the events inside the hotel (and thus casting a mysterious air on the stories).



-context. (more to come).

Learning Japanese (poem by Rem Koolhaas)- could relate to capsule building

Tokyo:
Japan, 7 days later.
First impression: the vastness
and shamelessness of its ugliness

Being on intimate terms with the
utilitarian is major strength:
no frills, ever.

Europe, and even America, try
(with more or less success)
to create situations where
everything is as "good" as possible;
Japan lives (serenely?) with drastic
segregation between
the sublime, the ugly,
and the utterly without qualities.

Dominance of the last 2 categories
makes mere presence of the first
stunning:
when beauty "happens,"
it is absolutely suprising.

Schedule
Japanese schedule:
written prison that blocks freedom,
excludes imporvisation, eliminates possiblity,
voids time, plans non-event.
Instead of obligations embedded in generic
free time, free time in Japan
is exceptional condition excavated from
general condition of obligation.

Only free time that day- midnight:
run around Imperial Palace; darkness;
fall; deep wound.  Trail of blood
back to hotel.
Ambulance crew entirely covered
in what seem man-sized
condoms, medical riot gear
(foreighner's blood considered dangerous).

Medical care: traditional.
First Tokyo visit:
untraditional; horizontal, immobile.
Think about it.

Blue
Fukuoka: young pink Chicago around
a blue bay.
...



more- will scan the rest of poem from s, m, l, xl.

Artificial vs. Nature.

"The Metropolis strives to reach a mythical point where the world is ocmpletely fabricated by man, so that it absolutely coincides with this desires.  The Metropolis is an addictive machine, from which there is no escape, unless it offers that too.  Through this pervasiveness, its existence has become like the Nature it has replaced: taken for granted, almost invisible, certainly indescribable."
-Rem Koolhaas- Delirious New York.