The Synagogenplatz Memorial in Tübingen commemorates the synagogue which was destroyed during the »Kristallnacht« in November 1938 and honours the fate of the Jews from Tübingen. Many of them felt compelled to emigrate due to the increasing persecution by the National Socialists. The Jewish residents of Tübingen which remained were deported by the SS to the Riga ghetto and to Theresienstadt.
Tübingen, located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, was home to a Jewish community already in the Middle Ages. A new Jewish community was founded here in 1882. That same year, the district rabbi inaugurated the newly erected synagogue. At that time, there were about 100 Jews living in Tübingen. In 1910, the Jewish community had 139 members. From 1930 on, the Jews of Tübingen increasingly fell victim to assaults by students belonging to the SA and other local supporters of the National Socialists. More and more frequently Jewish shops were vandalised. Already in 1928, one of the large synagogue windows was smashed during an attack. Due to these developments, there were only 90 Jews remaining in the city in 1933. Several Jewish families had either moved away from Tübingen or emigrated. Many further families followed this example after 1933. Around 1938, there were only about 20 Jews left in Tübingen. Members of the NSDAP looted the synagogue and set fire to it in the course of the pogrom of November 1938. A few years later, there were no more Jews left in Tübingen; by 1943, the SS had deported all of the remaining Jews.
Around 18 Jews from Tübingen died under National Socialist persecution. The SS had them deported, amongst others, to the Riga ghetto and to Theresienstadt in 1941/42.
In 1998, fundaments of the old synagogue were uncovered on the former Synagogenplatz (English: Synagogue Square) during construction work. This spurred a discussion about the possibility of erecting a monument in memory of the synagogue and the Jews of Tübingen. The project could be accomplished on the initiative of the Tübingen History Workshop Association and with the support of local citizens. The memorial on Synagogenplatz was dedicated in 2000. A steel cube with 101 square openings symbolises the destroyed synagogue. The names of murdered Tübingen Jews are inscribed on three plaques installed along a water trough. Text panels, containing information on the history of Synagogenplatz and Jewish life in Tübingen, complete the memorial.
- Name
- Denkmal Synagogenplatz Tübingen
- Address
-
Gartenstrasse 33
72072 Tübingen - Phone
- +49 (0)7071 237 70
- Web
- http://www.geschichtswerkstatt-tuebingen.de
- webmaster@geschichtswerkstatt-tuebingen.de
- Open
- The memorial is accessible at all times.
- Possibilities
- Guided city tours and lectures on the history of the Jews of Tübingen, meetings with eyewitnesses and experts, information about National Socialism and on regional Jewish history, slide shows, film and video lectures