User:Erasmusview/Synagogue Buchen (Odenwald)

The Synagogue' in Buchen in northern Baden-Württemberg was built in 1863/4. The synagogue was located at the address of Vorstadtstraße 35.

History
The first synagogue in Buchen in modern times was referenced around 1700, and was was situated in today's Haagstraße. The synagogue was badly damaged in a fire on November 28, 1861.

The Jewish community in Buchen eventually attained a piece of property at Vorstadtstrasse 35 and built a new synagogue in 1863/4. It was opened on August 19 and 20, 1864.. A mikveh was pout into the cellar of the building.

On August 11, 1931, the synagogue was desecrated for the first time.

In the summer of 1938 the synagogue was close and it was sold on August 31, 1938. Nevertheless, the interior of the synagogue was demolished on the night of November 10, 1938 during Kristallnacht. In 1939, the synagogue building was torn down and in its place an automobile garage was erected, and then later a grocery store.

Memorialization
In 1983 a commemorative plaque was put up. When the former grocery store was torn down in the autumn of 2002, remains of the Synagogue were laid bare, including the ground floor and two basement stories. In the second basement story, a cellar was discovered with two rooms and a vaulted passage. As a consequence of an examination of the architectural discovery, the vaulted passages were placed under cultural heritage management.

In the beginning of March 2004, the city council voted to place a monument for the Jews of Buchen on the property of the former synagogue and to set aside 40 parking places for visitors. At the place of the vaulted passages that were discovered, the city has decided to maintain an open green space, which has been given the name Jakob-Mayer-Platz in memory of the local Jewish poet, Jakob Mayer (1866–1939).

On November 9, 2006, both Jakob-Mayer-Platz and the memorial inside the cellar of the synagogue were consecrated. They memorialize the history of the Jewish community and the Jews from Buchen and from the villages of Bödigheim, Eberstadt und Hainstadt who were deported in 1940 and later killed.