Remains of synagogue destroyed in 1938 discovered in Munich

The renovation of a weir on the Isar caused a sensation in the Bavarian capital. Construction workers found the remains of Munich's former main synagogue, which had been demolished in 1938 on Adolf Hitler's orders, local media reported on Wednesday.

Construction workers discovered stones artistically decorated with flowers and ornaments, which, thanks to old photos, can be unequivocally linked to the Jewish house of worship. Among other things, they found parts of columns and a stone tablet of the law with the Ten Commendments in Hebrew script that used to be inside the synagogue above the Torah shrine.

After the synagogue was demolished, the remaining rubble was initially stored on a site in the west of Munich. Now it turned out that after the Second World War the construction company Leonhard Moll, which was commissioned to demolish the synagogue in 1938, used the rubble for renovation work on the Großhesseloher weir in 1956.

What will happen with the stones?

It is still unclear what will happen next with the historical stones. If the old Torah shrine can be at least partially reconstructed, the suitable place for it would be in the anteroom of today's main synagogue on Jakobsplatz, says Bernhard Purin, director of the Jewish Museum Munich (JMM). He can also imagine an exhibition on the history of the find in his museum.

Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria, who knows the old synagogue from her childhood, is particularly happy about the stones.

She told the Münchner Merkur that she is looking forward to the fragments "returning to the community and showing us a piece of our own history."

Meanwhile, Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said that it was "a stroke of luck" to find "the remains of the magnificent building that once dominated the cityscape."

dh/jgc (dpa, epd)