Looking back at the pop up event
For four days from September 9 to 12, 2021, the Neue Börneplatz became the site of a lively examination of the former synagogue as a vibrant place of Jewish life and its impact far beyond Frankfurt.
An exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Frankfurt and the Jewish Museum Frankfurt with works by Helgard Haug (Rimini Protokoll) and Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends in an architectural installation by Nikolaus Hirsch & Michel Müller.
At the southwestern end of the Jewish cemetery, a square was created in the Middle Ages, which became the center of Jewish life in Frankfurt from the 16th century due to the namesake Judenmarkt. Later, this square was considerably enlarged and in 1885, after the construction of the Orthodox synagogue, it became Börneplatz.
To disguise its Jewish history, it was renamed Dominikanerplatz in 1935, a reference to the Dominican monastery across the street. The synagogue was destroyed during the Reich Pogrom Night.
After the war, a wholesale flower market hall and a gas station were built on the site; in 1978, Dominikanerplatz was renamed back to Börneplatz. The planned start of construction of the customer center of the former Frankfurt public utility company from the mid-1980s led to the Börneplatz conflict. As a compromise, today's Neuer Börneplatz remained undeveloped, and the memorial was built by 1996.
The interviews as source material for the individual statements and the Börneplatz collage by Jochanan Shelliem that can be heard here were created - with the exception of the recording with Micha Brumlik and Eva Demski, whose appearance on the podium has been documented and evaluated - on the fringes of the symposium "Börneplatz-Konflikt 1987 revisited - 30 Jahre danach" (Börneplatz Conflict 1987 revisited - 30 years after) on August 20, 2017 at the Museum Judengasse.
Audio recordings of the following contemporary witnesses* were processed:
Built according to the plans of architect Siegfried Kuznitzky (1845-1922), the house of worship on Börneplatz (until 1885 Judenmarkt, from 1935 to 1978 Dominikanerplatz) was solemnly consecrated on September 12, 1882 as the new synagogue of the Orthodox congregation. It was also called Horowitz Synagogue or New Community Synagogue.
At the turn of the century, the synagogue was rebuilt and enlarged by architect Fritz Epstein. Now it had room for 1,300 worshippers. On September 8, 1901, it was solemnly rededicated by Rabbi Dr. Markus Horovitz.
On the morning of November 10, 1938, the synagogue was set on fire by units of the SA on the orders of the NSDAP leadership. In 1939, the ruins were demolished by order of the Frankfurt city administration.
In the summer of 1990, the last preserved remains of the former synagogue were uncovered and documented. In the basement of the building, filled with demolition rubble, archaeologists discovered fragments of the Torah shrine.
Until now, its appearance and dimensions could only be reconstructed on the basis of historical texts and photographs. Its colorful design as well as details of the ornamental decoration can only be experienced thanks to the stone fragments. These originals testify that the Torah shrine was not dismantled but literally smashed: the stones show the traces of brute force. In their immediacy and tactility, they are a rare and impressive testimony to the pogrom of November 9/10, 1938 and the subsequent radical destruction of the synagogue.
After their return to the site for "Mapping Memories," the fragments will be loaned from the Archaeological Museum to the Historical Museum for a special exhibition. For the future, a transfer to the Westend Synagogue as a permanent loan is planned.
The project "Unboxing Past" by Helgard Haug (Rimini Protokoll) takes the stone fragments of the synagogue in the depot of the Archaeological Museum as an opportunity to take a look behind the scenes of museum working practices. For the past year, three cameras have been observing Dr. Thorsten Sonnemann as he "unpacks" around 100 archive boxes and takes inventory of the stone evidence they preserve. The project invites reflection on practices of archiving and remembering, and questions the museum memory that clings to material cultural objects.
The bar mitzvah - the Jewish "rite of passage" or confirmation - is a significant moment in the life of a Jewish person. It is the moment when young people become part of the community. Since he did not perform the bar mitzvah in his youth, Ariel Efraim Ashbel is making up for this perhaps most important Jewish ceremony today - on his 40th birthday in the summer of 2022.
In the context of "Mapping Memories - Ver(antw)ortung Börneplatz" guided tours, discussions and performances took place. They were documented in photographs and in film, which you will also find here shortly.
