Beit Tikwa synagogue, Modern synagogue in Bielefeld, Germany

Beit Tikwa synagogue occupies the converted Paul-Gerhardt church on Detmolder Straße. The former tower now has a round roof and a lift inside, and the white-rendered facade opens through a wide window front. Inside are a library, event rooms, and the Torah ark donated by Protestant, Catholic, and Free Church Christians, set before the old altar wall with its seven redesigned round windows.

The Jewish community of Bielefeld, founded in 1705, inaugurated its synagogue on Turnerstraße on 20 September 1905, built to plans by Eduard Fürstenau for 800 worshippers. Nazis burned it during the Kristallnacht of 9–10 November 1938. After the war the community found a prayer room on Stapenhorststraße in 1951, and from 1990 grew with emigrants from the former Soviet Union. In 2008 it converted the Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche on Detmolder Straße into the Beit Tikwa synagogue, inaugurated on 21 September 2008.

The community chose a name meaning hope, using the space for regular services and educational programs that make Jewish life visible in the city. People from Bielefeld and the surrounding area gather here for religious celebrations and community connection.

Visitors can reach the building by public transport and will find parking and accessible entrances available. It helps to check the event calendar beforehand to learn about opening times and current programs.

The former Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche was built to a design by Denis Joseph Boniver and consecrated in 1961; its six bronze bells, cast in 1962 by Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock in Gescher, each carry an inscription from a hymn by Paul Gerhardt. During the 2008 conversion the spire was removed and the bells taken down.