Joseph-Carlebach-Platz Synagogue Monument Location: Grindelhof between Allende-Platz 2 and Grindelhof 30 (Talmud-Tora-Realschule) Local Transport: S21/S31 Dammtor Bus 102 direction Niendorf-Markt, Grindelhof Joseph-Carlebach-Platz/Joseph Carlebach Square. The synagogue in the former Bornplatz, built by the architects Ernst Friedheim and Semmy Engel, once formed the focus of orthodox Jewish religious life in Hamburg. It was the largest synagogue in Northern Germany with a congregation of 1,100. It was set on fire and severely damaged during the pogrom on the night of 9/10. November 1938, the so-called "Kristallnacht", and shortly thereafter demolished, at cost to the Jewish Community. The Nazis erected a 5-storey bunker in the middle of Bornplatz shortly therafter, dividing the square in two. Today this building, No. 2 Allende-Platz, houses the Hamburg University departments of Human Biology and Soil Science, and faces Allende-Platz and backs onto Joseph-Carlebach-Platz. Exactly a year after the official dedication of the monument this half of the original square, where the synagogue once stood, was renamed Joseph-Carlebach-Platz in memory of Chief-Rabbi Dr. Joseph Carlebach, who was the last Chief Rabbi of Hamburg, from 1936 to his deportation, with wife and four of the small children, to the Jungfernhof Concentration Camp, Riga in 1941. Chief-Rabbi Dr. Joseph Carlebach. In March 1942 Dr. Joseph Carlebach was murdered in Riga. His wife and three daughters were also murdered. Only the youngest son survived four years of internment in nine different concentration camps. A nameplate and two plaques are situated on the Hamburg University building at No. 2 Allende-Platz. The plaque on the Grindelhof side of the bunker building reads: HIER STAND DIE HAUPTSYNAGOGE DER DEUTSCH ISRAELITISCHEN GEMEINDE ZU HAMBURG DIE IN DER ZEIT DER NATIONAL- SOZIALISTISCHEN GEWALTHERRSCHAFT DURCH EINEN WILLKÜRAKT AM 9. NOV. 1938 ZERSTÖRT WURDE. The plaque on the side facing Joseph-Carlebach-Platz, which gives a brief summary of the history of the synagogue, reads: Hier am Bornplatz stand bis 1939 die größte Synagoge Norddeutschlands Sie wurde 1906 nach dem Planen der Architecten Friedheim und Engel errichtet. Bis zur ihrem Zwangsabbruch durch die Nationalsozialisten im Jahr 1939 war die Synagoge ein Mittelpunkt des religiösen jüdischen Lebens in Hamburg; in ihr fanden über 1100 Gläubige Platz. In der Pogromnacht vom 9./10. November 1938 machten die Nationalsozialisten diese geweihte Stätte zu einem Schauplatz der Judenvervolgung; die Synagoge wurde in Brand gesteckt und schwer beschädigt. Nach dem Abbruch des Gotteshauses wurde der Bunker errichtet. Für den Ort der ehemaligen Hauptsynagoge der Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde ist ein Monument entworfen worden. Es soll ein Abbild des Deckengewölbes der Zerstörten Synagoge auf ihrer ehemaligen Stätte erscheinen lassen. Das Monument soll an die Gestalt des Gotteshauses erinnenen, es soll eine Mahnung sein, daß sinnlose Zerstörung ein Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit gewesen ist. Möge die Zukunft die Nachfahren von Unrecht bewahren. The Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde Synagogue in Bornplatz, 1908 Synagogue Monument: A monument now occupies the former site of the Bornplatz Synagogue. Margrit Kahl's Synagogue Monument was officially dedicated on 9. November 1988, on the 50th anniversary of the destruction of the synagogue. The planning of the floor mosaic took one and a half years, accompanied by permanent discussions between the artist and representatives of the Jewish Community, the Department of the Arts, the Planning Department and the Cadastral Office. The first draft concept which planned to set the Hebrew word "Awoda" (Awoda=service, initially relating to the sacrificial offering made in the Temple in Jerusalem, and later applied generally to the synagogue service), was rejected by the Jewish Community due to both the unsuitability of the word chosen by the artist and its proposed setting: Hebraic characters are sacred and thereby should never be trod on. The second draft lead to today's monument. The idea was accepted due to its clarity of conception. Synagogue Monument. Black polished granite setts trace the lines of the former vaulting in its original position and dimensions. The areas between are filled with unpolished grey granite setts. The precise location of the former synagogue is thereby made visible. The synagogue entrance faced Grindelhof. To the east, in the direction of the university campus, rose the massive dome and principal apse, where the Ark was situated. Before its redesign the square served as a car park. Today it serves exclusively for pedestrian access. A commemorative plaque, with a brief summary of the history of the synagogue, is situated on the wall of the university building at No.2 Allende-Platz. Margrit Kahl has not created a monument in the accepted sense of something three dimentional. However, the floor mosaic makes the former synagogue building more concrete. It helps one imagine how the synagogue once was. It is not a monument in the usual sense but more a place of contemplation.     On 29 September 2004 a double sided information window was unveiled on Joseph-Carlebach-Platz at the initiative of the Grindelhof action group whose members included Helga Obens and Steffi Wittenberg, former pupil of the Israelitische Töchterschule in Karolinenstraße, and who as member of the VVN/BdA annually commemorates the Pogrom Night of 9 November 1938 at this site. Sponsored by JC Decaux Joseph-Carlebach Institute