Wolfsthalplatz, Architectural heritage monument in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, Germany.
Wolfsthalplatz is a green square in central Aschaffenburg on the site of the former synagogue, which was burned in the November 1938 pogrom and demolished in 1939. The square is bordered by the former rabbinate building, erected in 1898/99, which has housed the Documentation Centre with the Museum of Jewish History and Culture since 27 July 1983. A memorial plaque commemorates more than 300 Aschaffenburg Jews deported to extermination camps.
The square occupies the site of the synagogue built in 1893 under Rabbi Dr. Simon Bamberger, a domed structure carried by ten columns. During the November pogroms of 1938 the Nazis set it on fire; the dome collapsed in January 1939 and the ruins were demolished that same year at the Jewish community's expense. After the war the square was renamed Wolfsthalplatz and laid out as a green space.
The museum's permanent exhibition traces the community from the first mention of a Jewish school in 1267 to the Nazi persecution. A memorial plaque at the entrance commemorates over 300 Aschaffenburg Jews deported to extermination camps. A model of the 1893 domed synagogue, destroyed in 1938, is on display.
The square lies in Aschaffenburg's old town, a short walk from the main railway station and the pedestrian zone. The rabbinical building houses the documentation centre; the memorial plaque and the model of the 1893 domed synagogue are inside. The grounds are an open green space with paths, so the site can be crossed on foot at any time of day.
The permanent exhibition in the former rabbinical building begins in 1267, when a Jewish school in Aschaffenburg is first mentioned, and runs to the Nazi persecution. A model of the 1893 domed synagogue, burned in the November pogrom of 1938, is on display. Torah scrolls found during renovation work, no longer usable, were buried under a memorial stone in the Jewish cemetery.
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