On your left is the Synagogue Celle, a striking half-timbered brick building featuring tall, arched white windows and a massive pitched roof covered in red clay tiles. You might notice it looks a bit tucked away, and that is entirely by design.
Built around 1740, this is the oldest surviving half-timbered synagogue in Lower Saxony. But for a long time, you could not see it from the street at all. Take a peek at your phone to see the front houses that used to completely hide it. Back in the eighteenth century, hiding a synagogue behind a Jewish school and residential buildings was a common way to avoid the hostility of the Christian majority. You literally had to walk through the front school hallway just to reach the sanctuary in the back.
During the November pogroms of 1938, the interior was totally destroyed. Sacred objects were thrown into the street and burned. But the building itself was spared from the flames. Why? Because the attackers were terrified a fire would spread to the tightly packed wooden houses next door. Their self preservation is the only reason this rare building is still standing today.
After that, it was used as a storage room, and by 1942, a holding space for the remaining Jewish community before they were deported. If you look down at the pavement nearby, you will see several Stolpersteine, small brass memorial blocks set directly into the ground to honor victims of the Nazis. Two of them remember Russian prisoners of war, Jakob Gerschez and David Klatschko, who were forced laborers.
But the story does not end in tragedy. The city bought the buildings in 1969, and after massive restorations, the synagogue was re-inaugurated in 1974. Inside, the eighty square meter hall has no pillars blocking the view, thanks to a seriously clever hidden roof truss system. They even reconstructed the Bima, the raised central platform where the Torah is read, and the upper half of the Torah shrine on the east wall is actually original.
If you want to check out the exhibitions inside, the doors are open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 AM to 4 PM. Take a moment to reflect here, then continue to the next spot on our route.
