Yes, it is December, and so it may seem hard to imagine that I just returned from my first site visit. But, it took a little bit of time before I felt ready to head out and really get this project fully underway. When I asked my mentor where I should head first, he didn´t even have to think about it. Thüringen. Thüringen is a state in the very middle of Germany, a part of former East Germany. According to my mentor, Thüringen is the friendliest place in Germany.
Before I left there was research to do. I identified six historic synagogues in Thüringen: three in the city of Erfurt, one in Mühlhausen, and two located in the small villages of Berkach and Aschenhausen. Before the trip could take place there were emails to send, plans to make, phone calls to make (making phone calls in German is actually sort of terrifying - I tried to make myself a script, but as soon as some unsuspecting person picks up on the other end of the line, expecting that the person calling will be speaking German, I drop the script and just hope for the best).
So last Sunday afternoon I headed to the train station and was off on my adventure to Thüringen.
I arrived mid evening in the city of Erfurt, the biggest city in Thüringen, population 200,000. I trudged three kilometers through the snow to my pension, settled in for the first of many quiet nights in central Germany. The next morning, prompty at 8, I had my first interview.
Wolfgang Nossen is the head of the Jewish Community of Thüringen. I was pretty lucky to get a last minute interview with him. After speaking to the two women who "hold the keys" for the synagogues in Berkach and Aschenhausen, the "key-holder" in Berkach recommended that I talk with Mr. Nossen if I wanted to ask any questions about how the building in her village is used, etc.
So I did. I learned that the Jewish community of Thüringen is responsible for three of the six synagogues I was interested in learning about. Their main synagogue is in Erfurt. It was built in 1952 and is the ONLY synagogue to have been built during communism in East Germany. The community is also responsible for the restored historic synagogues in Berkach and the small city of Mühlhausen. They are NOT the owners of the Aschenhausen synagogue, the rights over which the 170 person village of Aschenhausen apparently took the community to court and won in the early 1990s (need to learn more about that). The other two non-Erfurt synagoges owned by the Gemeinde (community) get visited occasionally for a service or event, but are mostly administered and kept open by volunteers in their respective locations (aka lady in Berkach with a key to the synagogue).
It was interesting to learn about the Jewish community of Thüringen. Between the end of WWII and the fall of the wall, the Jewish community of Thüringen may have had a newly built synagogue, but the community was aging and very small. Then came the Russian immigrants. There are now 1,200 Jewish in Thüringen, although only 800 consider themselves "members" of the community, and only 500 actually live in Erfurt, the only city with an active synagogue. Erfurt was one of the three communities to receive one of the rabbis whose ordination I attended, so it may be an interesting community to watch in the coming years.
Wolfgang Nossen, at work in the Jewish community of Thüringen´s main building.
With no more interviews til Tuesday, I was off to the city of Weimar for the rest of the day. If you have heard of Weimar, chances are you are conjuring up some image of Germany´s first fledgling democracy from 1918-1933, the Weimar Republic, the constitution of which, was signed, quite logically in Weimar. Weimar is also known as the home town of Schiller and Goethe, and a major player in the Bauhaus architectural movement.
Unfortunately I visited Weimar on Monday and Nikolaustag (St. Nicholas Day), which means that instead of soaking in culture, I saw this:
True, that ain´t Goethe, but St. Nick amusing children in front of the city government building (separation of church and state... not quite yet guys) was not bad. And in addition to wandering through Christmas Markets (this country basically transforms itself into a big gingerbread cookie as soon as the leaves start to change colors)...
... I also soaked up a lot of snow. So much in fact, that is became relatively apparent halfway through the day that if I didn´t find snow boots, I might get frost bite (it was touch and go for a while there). I am not going to say that I have a reputation for showing up places with the wrong shoes, but let´s face the facts, I do. I think I intimidate shoes. They have no idea from day one that I plan on walking EVERYWHERE and that I do not care what a particular pair of shoes was intended to be worn for. I will wear them for whatever I plan on doing. No prisoners taken. The result is that a lot of shoes just don´t live up to the challenge, and the result is an early, painful death. So the rest of my Nikolaustag in Weimar was spent locating snow boots. I reassure myself with the knowledge that Schiller very likey bought snow boots in the very same location.
Then I was ready to spend the rest of the day blissfully wandering through the snow!
The next day I was off to Mühlhausen... and if you haven´t had enough snow yet, here is a bit of my ride an hour west of Weimar to Mühlhausen, population: 36,000, number of synagogues: 1, number of Jews: (approximately) 0.
I was picked up at the train station in Mühlhausen by Mr. Sünder, a college friend of my mentor, who currently works with the archives and historical activities of the city of Mühlhausen. Born and raised in the city, Mr. Sünder was an excellent tour guide. He took me all over the city, explaining much of the recent history in particular.
The synagogue in Mühlhausen was "rediscovered" in the late 1980s, around the time many of these buildings seem to reenter the radar of their local communities. The fall of the wall came as quite a shock to this (and to every other) part of the DDR, and the restoration was dropped until the mid 90s. By this time Jewish immigrants were pouring into Germany, and apparently Mühlhausen hoped to put its historical synagogue back into use. This hope would not be realized, as the new Jewish immigrants preferred to stay together in Erfurt and other larger cities. Mühlhausen, at the end of the day, has a beautifully restored, fully functional synagogue... with no Jews.
When I asked why the people of Mühlhausen were so enthusiastic to have a Jewish community again, there really wasn´t a concrete answer. Jews, he said, were a part of the history of the city, and when there was the opportunity to restore not just a building but a way of life, the city had hoped to be able to make it a reality. Today the building is accessible to visitors who can read a small exhibit about the history of the Jewish community in the city. But, as with many similar buildings in Germany, the very friendly women from the protestant church who keep the building open, will gladly point you to a book if your questions about the community or Jewish life in general go anywhere past the surface. School groups are likely the most common visitors to the building.
Mr. Sünder also took me to see the Jewish cemetery, kept in pristine condition by the city (although it was locked for security reasons when I was there). There are so many more extant Jewish cemeteries than synagogues in Germany, that I can´t imagine looking into them in more depth at this time. But having seen some pretty dismal Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe and the US to be honest, it was good to see upright stones and legible inscriptions.
Then Mr. Sünder asked if I had sampled Thüringer cuisine yet. And so I learned what a Thüringer Klöße is...
I, perhaps like you, was initially fooled by these two spherical dumplings called Klöße. They look like matza balls. If you don´t know about matza balls a) I feel sorry for you b) you should just know that they are Jewish soup dumplings made from ground up matzah (crackers), egg, spices, and very likely the loving special touch of someone´s grandmother.
A Klöße, my friend, is not a Matza Ball. It is made from potatoes, which gives it an interestingly chewy texture (I have no idea how German cuisine manages to make so many things which in their natural state are not chewy, become chewy... I have never had a chewy potato product before). I´ll admit that the Klöße went pretty well with deer gulasch (which is amazingly delicious) and red cabbage (um, we are in Germany, so obviously cabbage was a key element in this meal). The big surprise was that in the middle of the Klöße are chunks of bread. I can´t really explain this. It is sort of like dumpling surprise.
On the subject of things I have eaten in Germany in the attempt to not offend/be open minded/really get in touch with this culture, Blutwurst. Blood sausage. This is not an experience I can blame on Thüringen, since it happened in Berlin. And I suppose like most of my blog, it clashes pretty starkly with your average (is there such a thing) historical synagogue blog. But it seems like a feat worth mentioning. Like nearly everything in Berlin, it happened in the context of a Christmas market (if you can find something else to do in Germany in December, please let me know). My wonderful, enthusiastic German hosts promised me the best blood sausage in the city.
Well, it was the best I have ever had. That being said, knowing it was ONLY 30% blood, did not help with the appeal factor. I hate less than a thimble-full, and i think it will hold me for a while (I was just impressed that I kept it down).
Back to Mühlhausen. After spending the rest of the day in various historical buildings in the city and holding my second interview, I was ready to retire to the Jugendherberge I had reserved. It was supposed to be only 2 km from the train station, but in Mühlhausen, that is the equivalent of staying out in the boonies. Mr. Sünder dropped me off, and then taking pity on me, invited me to dinner at his home.
This turned out to be one of the hightlights of the trip. I spent the evening chatting with Mr. and Mrs. Sünder, and I suppose it would be hard to say whether they were more delighted by their "authentic American guest" (their words, not mine), or if I was more delighted by hours of stories about life in the DDR. Ok, no, I was definitely more entertained.
Ok, still to come, part 2... Erfurt and the Oldest Synagogue in Germany.
yes, you are very bad at showing up with the right shoes!
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