Synagogue
The synagogue in Echzell, Bisseser Straße 21, was built between 1863 and 1865.
The building was laid out as a centered hall over a quadratic floor plan. The room held 72 seats for men and 40 for women.
On the side facing the street, the building had a transverse gable in front of a hipped roof. The front entrance, which featured Norman arches, was on the west side. It was framed on either side by tall Norman arched windows, and above by a round window which likely held a Star of David. On the north side of the building were three narrower Norman arched windows. The wide corner pilasters were decorated with narrow, high rounded niches.
Siegfried Simon writes to Dr. Paul Arnsberg in October 1965, “Apart from a very beautiful stained glass window: Moses with the Tablets, the interior contained nothing special. Three Torah scrolls with velvet mantles and several silver utensils were vandalized.”
Between 1878 and 1879, after the neighbor appropriated the back yard of the synagogue for his own use, storing wood right up to the synagogue wall, and in addition allowing others to dig lime pits on the property, a wall was built around the back yard. The building was renovated several times: In 1925 the outer windows and the entry door were painted. In 1926 the exterior was plastered and the wooden ceiling replaced.
During the November pogrom in 1938, a large group of people gathered in front of the synagogue. Young men broke the door open, vandalized the interior, and set the building on fire as the crowd applauded.
Until the 1960s the building, which was privately owned, stood empty, and steadily deteriorated. The owner finally had it demolished, preserving only the ground floor walls and remodeling it into a restaurant and bar with dance floor. Today it houses an amusement arcade with vending machines.
In 1991, when signposting for the “Historic Tour” through the old part of the village was completed, a stone was placed at the entrance of the side street next to the building. The brass plate affixed to it reads, “Synagogue. Here on this property, Bisseser Straße 21, stood the synagogue built between 1863-1865 by the Jewish Community. During the Reich Pogrom Night of November 9, 1938, the interior was destroyed by fire.”
This is the only photograph of Echzell’s synagogue. It was taken around 1960 – either by Paul Arnsberg or by someone for him – and shows the building in its deteriorated state. (Source: Paul Arnsberg, “’Die jüdischen Gemeinden in Hessen, vol. 3, Bilder – Dokumente,” Darmstadt 1973, p. 47.)
In addition, there is an old postcard view of Bisseser Straße with the synagogue; unfortunately, the quality is very poor.
If anyone has other photos, we would be extremely grateful if you would contact us and donate them.