Synagogue

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

After numerous massacres and prohibitions on residence of the Jewish community in Colmar (between the 13th and the beginning of the 19th century), it was only under the July Monarchy that the latter took form and acquired its autonomy, of which the erection of a synagogue bears witness - begun in 1839 and inaugurated in 1842. This synagogue is a massive building, of rectangular plan, preceded on the west façade by a neo-classical avant-corps with more varied elements than on the other façades: round-arch doorway flanked by fluted pilasters and rosettes in the spandrels, lintel struck with a verse in Hebrew characters taken from the prophet Jeremiah, triplet of round-arch openings between two wide moulding bands, triangular pediment pierced by an oculus and surmounted by an openwork bell turret. The wall-plates are pierced by eight axes of round-arch openings over two levels, separated by two moulding bands. Around 1920, a narrow house was built against the east façade, which obscured the rose window that surmounts the holy ark. Inside, one is struck by the height of the building: the galleries reserved for women rest on very high round-arch arcades, which allowed the establishment of an intermediate level on the west side. One remarks essentially, in this rectangular hall covered with a coffered ceiling, the polygonal enclosure of the sanctuary and the holy ark with triangular pediment and Ionic columns.