LVR-Cultural Centre Village Synagogue Rödingen

The LVR-Cultural Centre Village Synagogue Rödingen (German: LVR-Kulturhaus Landsynagoge Rödingen) is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Rödingen, in the municipality of Titz, in the district of Düren, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Built as a house in 1749, with a synagogue that was completed in 1841, the building has served as a Jewish museum and cultural center since 2009.

LVR-Cultural Centre Village Synagogue Rödingen
German: LVR-Kulturhaus Landsynagoge Rödingen
The former synagogue in 2010
Religion
Affiliation	Judaism (former)
Rite	Nusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	House (1789–1934); Synagogue (1841–1934); Jewish museum (since 2009)
Status	Closed (as a synagogue) Repurposed (as a museum)
Location
Location	Mühlenend 1, Rödingen, Titz, Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia
Country	Germany
Location of the former synagogue in North Rhine-Westphalia
Geographic coordinates	50°57′56″N 6°27′40″E
Architecture
Type	House
Completed	1789 (as a house); 1841 (as a synagogue)
Materials	Stone

The former synagogue

In the synagogue is still the Torah niche, located on the eastern wall of the synagogue opposite the entrance. The original Torah ark (Hebrew: Aron Kodesh) with the ornate curtain, the parochet can be seen in a photo. Over the niche is still a long iron nail for the hanging of the Ner Tamid. The women's gallery also exists. The gallery is fronted with plain wood panels and supported on two slender wooden pillars. There are traces of the original decor.

Museum

The museum's permanent exhibition is contained within a former family house of the head (Vorsteher) of the local Jewish community.

The museum is dedicated to past and present Jewish life in rural Rhineland. The former Rödingen synagogue is the only Jewish house of worship in the western Rhineland still largely in its original condition. In 1999 the Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR), a assembly of municipalities, bought the entire property with the intention of opening the buildings to the public. The cultural centre opened in September 2009, the European Day of Jewish Culture.

The exhibition is situated in the nine rooms of the family house. On the ground floor is a Media Room with a small library, the Family Room presents the stories of five generations of the Ullmann Family, who lived in this house from 1789 till 1934. In the Kosher kitchen are a number of exhibits. On the upper floor is the House and Synagogue History Room, the Village Sites Room with the theme Jewish cemetery, Judengasse (Jews' Alley) and jewish school. In The Rhineland Judaism Room is the Menorah from the former Synagogue in Vettweiß. In The Religion Room is a Torah Wimpel (Hebrew: mappah) from 1762 and a Sefer Torah fragment with the pointer (Hebrew: Jad).

The museum regularly hosts monthly lectures, workshops, seminars and concerts on Jewish religion and culture. It celebrates the yearly events International Museum Day, European Day of Jewish Culture and Tag des offenen Denkmals (European Heritage Days).

See also

• History of the Jews in Germany
• List of synagogues in Germany (in German)

Further reading

• Schmalz, Alexander (2012). LVR-Cultural Centre Village Synagogue Rödingen. Discover Jewish life in the Rheinland!. Haigerloch: Medien und Dialog Schubert. ISBN 978-3-933231-45-1.

External links

Media related to Synagoge Rödingen at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (in German)
• "Jewish life in the Rhineland" (PDF). LVR-Cultural Centre Village Synagogue Rödingen.