A former church in the city of Cottbus will become Germany’s newest synagogue and the first in the state of Brandenburg since 1938.
In ceremonies on Nov. 2, Ulrike Menzel, who has led the Evangelical parish in Cottbus since 2009, handed a key for the Schlosskirche, or “castle church,” to the Jewish Association of the State of Brandenburg. The formal dedication of the synagogue is planned for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan. 27.
For decades, the building has been used for social and communal events.
The ceremony came almost 76 years after Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” a Germany-wide pogrom in which Jewish property and synagogues — including the one in Cottbus — were destroyed. A department store stands on the site today.
The state of Brandenburg contributed the full purchase cost for the church and will contribute about $62,400 per year for maintenance, according to a statement on the community’s website.
The Jewish community of Cottbus has some 350 members, all from the former Soviet Union. — jta