Hamburg Update

Foundation Chief Executive Michael Mail recently met with Professor Miriam Rürup who is the chair of the Association that the Foundation has been supporting working on the preservation and development of the Tempel synagogue in Hamburg.  Major events to raise the profile of the synagogue have been planned for 2026 as part of ‘Hamburg Architecture Summer’ including an exhibition, guided tours and a concert.

Prof. Rürup is the Director of the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies and a Professor for European-Jewish Studies at Potsdam University.

In the early 19th century, Hamburg had the biggest Jewish community in Germany. The Neue Israelitische Tempelverein of Hamburg, founded in 1817, was one of the earliest Reform congregations and played an important role in the development of the Reform movement in its theology, liturgy, music, and architecture.

In the early 1840s, its members decided to build what was the very first Reform synagogue to be constructed in a major German city. It was an imposing building combining forms of neo-classicism with elements of neo-Gothic and Moorish style.  During World War 2, the building was partially destroyed during air raids on Hamburg.  Today, the Temple is considered one of the most important architectural traces of the Reform movement of the 19th century in Germany.