The synagogue – the centre of the Jewish community

Forchheim’s synagogue was erected in 1807/1808 on the site of the former dilapidated building. Sandstone blocks from the town fortifications which date back to the Middle Ages were included. In 1876 an extra story was added to provide an apartment for the teacher and cantor Michael Löb Kleemann and his family. The prayer room on the ground floor contained the Torah ark on a south-east facing axis in which six valuable Torah scrolls were housed. The inventory of the synagogue also included brass candelabras and religious objects made of silver such as the Torah mountings and decorations.

In 1836 a new mikveh was erected on a plot of land behind the synagogue. This mikveh is now part of a dwelling house. Ritual washing in flowing water was a mandatory requirement for pious believers. Above all women made regular use of the mikveh, especially after menstruation or having given birth. It was necessary to remove all clothing and for the whole body including the hair to be submerged.

In the Reich's Pogrom Night of the 9^th to 10^th November 1938 the Nazis plundered the synagogue and desecrated the interior. The brawling mob threw the Torah scrolls into the river Wiesent. The owner of the mill Margarete Wittmann had the parchment rolls fished out of the water and hid them in the mill. After the war, she handed the scrolls over to the JRSO (Jewish Restitution Successor Organization). The final fate of the scrolls can no longer be determined.