Interview with Daniel Scheffer about the new Bornplatz Synagogue

“For the founding of the “Bornplatz Synagogue Reconstruction Initiative,” I had a deep desire to preserve memory, honor the past and shape a hopeful future of Jewish life in Hamburg and Germany. I and my colleagues were aware of the importance of the Jewish heritage in Hamburg, but we also understood that the history of this once magnificent synagogue is inextricably linked with the dark chapters of the past. ”

“A few months before the initiative was founded, I discovered the so-called “Crown of the Bornplatz Synagogue” at an antique dealer in Hamburg in late summer 2020. The valuable crown once adorned the Torah Scroll in the former Bornplatz Synagogue.

She was, so to speak, the only surviving, silent witness of the 1938 Reichspogrom Night, during which the Bornplatz Synagogue was forcibly plundered and destroyed. And now, after more than 80 years, it came back into our lives and I held it in my hands in amazement. It was a very emotional moment. ”

I wanted to save the crown for our community and had to buy it first. Which - to be honest - still makes me pretty angry. I - a Hamburger of Jewish faith - had to acquire the Nazi loot! A piece of loot that was demonstrably stolen from my ancestors in National Socialist Germany from the former Bornplatz Synagogue. That felt very wrong.

That's right. In many conversations within but especially outside the Jewish community, I felt people's desire that hate, discrimination or simple ignorance should have no future in our city. We are experiencing an increasing number of anti-Semitic crimes and are experiencing how dangerous it is to wear a kipa or even a Star of David in public. Because of this still sad reality and because of the discovery of the Crown, I then founded the “Bornplatz Synagogue Reconstruction Initiative” with great co-initiators.

However, the initiative's core team did not primarily consist of political or communication professionals, but mostly Hamburgers from the middle of our society who were involved in the campaign and initiative. Mothers and fathers of families, students, politicians and entrepreneurs.

Everyone found the fact that the Bornplatz Synagogue is still destroyed and that even the property, over the years, has still not been returned to the Jewish Community.

And it then became the most successful campaign for “Jewish Life” that has ever taken place in Hamburg and presumably Germany. More than 100,000 supporters - including the current Federal Chancellor, the First and Second Mayors as well as other representatives from politics, culture, sport, religion, business and trade unions - accompanied and promoted the campaign.

I think the tremendous support for this initiative reflects the belief that the destruction of the past can create a new splendor. However, many people also think that it is primarily about the law and visibility of Jewish life. The encouragement stands for the will to build a bridge between generations and to learn from history in order to build a better future. The reconstruction of the Bornplatz Synagogue is an opportunity for a visible and tangible Jewish future in Hamburg.

The study was preceded by an intensive process of discovery and consultation within the Jewish Community, the “Reconstruction of the Bornplatz Synagogue” initiative and major authorities and representatives of our city. The feasibility of a close architectural relationship between the synagogue up to 1939 and the synagogue to be rebuilt as well as the integration into the historic building ensemble in Grindel was one result of the study. At the same time, however, it was also examined what the synagogue could look like from the inside, i.e. how space could be provided for the traditional Jewish liturgy and for the Reformed liturgy in Judaism.

These results can now be translated into concrete spatial planning, with an architectural competition, construction planning, etc. We place particular emphasis on early and open communication with our neighbors and residents.

We don't want to wait here for construction to start in order to be back at home in the Grindelviertel. Starting in 2024 - and therefore probably years before construction starts - we will create cultural diversity and an opportunity to meet people with events on Bornplatz.

The foundation anchors the future of the Bornplatz Synagogue in Hamburg's institutions. The Board of Trustees promotes construction and communication with all key stakeholders in the city and in particular local residents. For the future, the tasks of financing the company, in particular the program for meeting and experiencing Jewish life in the middle of our city and thus in the middle of our society, will be much more permanent.

It was important to us that federal, state and Jewish and non-Jewish people were represented on the Board of Trustees of the New Bornplatz Synagogue. Jewish life in Germany is life in an extraordinary minority. In post-1945 Germany, less than 0.2% of the current population is Jewish. For most members of the Jewish community, life in Germany is, of course, living together with non-Jews. We therefore want to tackle this major project together with our neighbors, the City of Hamburg and the Federal Republic of Germany.