Israelitischer Tempelverband in Hamburg/
Hamburg Israelite Temple Association

The Temple Movement:

The word emancipation was, in Germany after 1831, applied to equal rights for Jews. Article 16 of the Basic Rights of the Frankfurt Federal Assembly in which Jews were assured equal civic and civil status came into effect on 23.02.1848. Although this applied to Hamburg it was not until the new Hamburg constitution of 1860 and two further laws passed in 1864 that the emancipation of Hamburg Jews acquired a legal status.

One of the pioneers of the Temple movement was Israel Jacobson (1768-1828). In 1810 he named his synagogue in Seesen, in Niedersaxon, "Temple" and adopted the Christian form of worship i.e. with confirmation, the sermon in German, the playing of the organ, and choral music.
The foundation of the Temple movement was not a splitting away from Judaism or the attempt to create a separate sect but an attempt to attune more to the modern world, and by so doing to secure the basis of Judaism, in its teaching and history, for future generations. Many educated Jews had already been lost to the community. The name "Temple" was chosen to avoid conflict with the board of the traditional synagogue.

The religious service of the Hamburg Temple was disseminated at the 1820 Leipzig Fair where Jewish businessmen from Germany, many other European countries, and from the USA met and discussed the new ritual. As a consequence, the Reform community, including New York and Baltimore, adopted the Hamburg Temple's new prayer book, which was read from front to back, as in the christian world.

Today Reform Judaism, with its origins in the Hamburg Temple, has alone in the USA circa 2 million members.

The Temple in the former Brunnenstraße:

The movement was not only strongly attacked by the orthodoxy for being irreligious and freethinking but was critised from within the Reform movement itself. Directly after the publication of the new prayer book in 1818 the dayanin of the Bethdin of the orthodox German-Israelite Community posted a ban on the use of the book in the synagogue in Elbstraße. This and a collection of written criticisms was ineffective. When in 1841 the new edition of the prayer book was published its use was also banned.

The influence of the Temple movement was not restricted to the liberal community; one of the lasting effects has been the introduction of the sermon in German, also within the orthodox community.

The first Temple in Bunnenstraße:
Today nothing remains of the former first Temple. In addition "Bunnenstraße" no longer exists.

The second Temple in the courtyard behind Nos. 12 and 13 Poolstraße:

The former "second" Temple of the New Israelite Temple Society was built in 1844 by the architect J.H. Klees-Wülbern. It was situated in the courtyard behind Nos. 12 and 13 Poolstraße, with access through a narrow passageway between the two houses.

By the end of the 1820s the Temple in the former Bunnenstraße had become too small to accommodate its members. Around 1840 the Temple Society had around 800 members, representing approximately 10% of Hamburg Jews.

Initially the Hamburg authorities, in accordance with the senior rabbi of the German-Israelite Community Isaac Bernays, opposed the new building, but finally the Hamburg Senat approved its construction.

Prior to the building of this Temple the almemar was situated between the pulpit and the Torah shrine. With this second Temple the pulpit was situated directly in front of the Torah shrine and directly behind the almemar. The positioning in the eastern side of the building remained the same. There was also a common entrance for both men and women.

Despite the mixed architectural style of the building the façade gave an impression of the Gothic style, a further sign of the community's desire to assimilate to the Christian environment.
The Temple contained seating for 380 men and 260 women.
In 1868 the Israelitsche Tempelverein became the Israelitsche Tempelverband.

Shortly before the opening of the second Temple in 1844 Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) wrote the following verses:

"Die Juden teilen sich wieder ein
In zwei verschiededne Parteien;
Die Alten gehn in die Synagog',
Und in den Tempel die Neuen.

Die Neuen essen Schweinefleisch,
Zeigen sich widersetzig,
Sind Demokraten; die Alten sind
Vielmehr aristokrätzig."

When the new (third) Temple in Oberstraße was opened in 1931 the differences between orthodox and liberal Jews, as expressed by Heine in the above verses, were long since less pronounced.

What follows are short descriptions of two of the Temple Associations preachers/rabbis:
Dr. David Leimdörfer (1851-1922), took up office as preacher in 1883. By this time the enthusiasm over the reforms made to the service had long dissapated. Temple attendance had become increasingly restricted to religious holidays, at which times the Temple was overcrouded. Dr. David Leimdörfer's sermons gave many the impetus to attend the Temple, but this also fell away over the years.
Dr. Sonderlings, succeeded Leimdörfer as preacher in 1908.
Dr. Friedrich Rülf, succeeded Sonderlings as rabbi in 1922. He was an advocate for the younger generation who sought new values, as long as they had not joined the Zionists. He reassumed the title of rabbi. He immediately sought to hold services in Hebrew. In his sermons he appealed to the community to return to the traditional values of Judaism. His departure from Hamburg in 1926 was particularly regretted by the younger generation. He was a welcome guest at social evenings given by the "Blau-Weiß", the jüdische Jugendbünde/ Jewish Youth Federation and the "Kameraden", the deutsch-jüdische Wanderbund/German Jewish Ramblers' Federation as he never thrust himself into the limelight.
He was a mutual friend of Dr. Holzer, the rabbi of the conservative Neuen Dammtor-Synagoge/New Dammtor Synagogue. He emigrated to Israel after the war.

The last rabbi of the Temple in Poolstraße was Dr. Bruno Italiener (1881-1956), who took up office in 1928. He continued office in the new (third) Temple in Oberstraße in 1931. He emigated to London in 1938, where he died in 1956.

Today parts of the Temple remain: the lower part of the façade with its portal arch and part of the east wall with its apse.

       

History of the building:
Built in 1844.
The last service was held in 1931.
Following this the buiding served as a storeroom for synagogue furnishings, and was then sold in 1937.
It then served as a warehouse for barley from Rumania.
During the war school benches from bombed schools were stored in the gallery, and a glass firm was situated below.
On the 25.07.1944 the building was almost totally destroyed by a direct hit by a bomb. It burnt for one and a half days.
Today the site is used by a car-repair firm.
The Temple ruin has been placed under the protection for the preservation of historic monuments by the Hamburg Department of the Arts.
A plaque has been erected on the left side of the façade.

The New Hamburg Temple in Oberstraße:

Felix Ascher Architect of the New Hamburg Temple in Oberstraße:

The building of Jewish synagogues had up until 1914 generally been undertaken by non-Jewish architects. Even though often the best architects of their time were employed, as was the case with the second Hamburg Temple in Poolstraße, built by the esteemed Hamburg architect Klees-Wülbern, these architects built synagogues with reference to the christian church. Jewish elements were incorporated through the use of an oriental style. In addition the architectural style of the time was employed.

It was a formidable challenge for the architects to build a new Temple in Hamburg that would symbolize both the traditional faith and knowledge of Judaism and modern 20th century German Jewish awareness.

The site in Oberstraße set strict conditions on the proposed building. This exclusive residential area had no unified architectural style and presented a row of houses fronting the street within which the building had to fit.

As can be seen from the photograph above an entirely structureless façade confronts the spectator. There is intentionally nothing that strikes the eye. The only embellishment is a round window containing the Menora (the seven-branched candelabrum used in the Temple, and now an emblem of Judaism). The choice of alternate rows of large and small shell-limestone slabs intensify the façade's monumentality and monotone, and lend it a timeless quality. The steps, which stretch the complete width of the frontage, give it an additional solemnity.

The five-doored entrance hall reflects the quotation chiselled above the entrance:
My house shall be called Temple and shall be for all my people.

As can be seen from the plan above, on entering the building through the narrow entrance one reaches the vestibule from which one gains access to the various halls. To the right lies the Gabriel Riesser Hall that serves a secular function, to the left the "small Temple", and ahead, lying along the main axis of the building, in accordance with its significance, the main Temple.

The Gabriel Riesser Hall has a solemn but not a sacred atmosphere. This is achieved through its long row of closely juxtaposed windows. A plain, unadorned ceiling diverts ones attention from the lowness of the room. A stage with adjoining rooms is situated on the street side of the hall for the presentation of small concerts, performances and lectures. A fully equipped kitchen in the cellar allows for the celebration of functions with food e.g. Seder, weddings, etc.

The "small Temple" contains the Torah Ark on its eastern wall. Its intimate atmosphere is achieved through its plain wooden ceiling and beautiful jacaranda wood-panelled eastern wall. The windowless walls, covered with a warm, yellowish plaster give the room a unity. Light enters, as in a basilica, through a row of windows, high on the walls, beneath the ceiling. A deep-blue carpet, onto which the Kaddish prayer is woven, is suspended on the end wall. Apart from the eternal lamp, which hangs above the almemar/bimah, there are no lighting appliances to disturb the atmosphere of the room.

Compared to the "small Temple" the atmosphere of the main Temple is solenm. A 30 metre long corridor with cloakroom lies at right angles to and in front of this main Temple. One passes through a narrow, low, curtained anteroom into the main Temple which is a lofty, light filled room with gallery, but without ornament or intense colour.

The focal point of the hall is the grey-black marble-slabbed end wall. The Torah Ark is situated here behind a curtain. This expansive, otherwise plain wall is inscribed with the "Shemona Esrei/Amidah" (the central prayer in each of the daily services recited silently and standing), in a huge bronze frieze of letters.

The solemn atmosphere is heightened by the podium projecting from this end wall with its two large candelabra standing either side of the reading desk, behind which the pulpit rises. The almemar, pulpit and Torah shrine form a unity without detracting from their individual functions during the service.

The modern design is underlined by the employment of rich materials: Indonesian ebony, and a thick, deep blue carpet. The warm, brown tone of the timbered ceiling compliments the dark brown of the seating and walls of the balastrades. The row of high, blue and yellow glazed, closely juxtaposed windows heighten the solemnity of the room.

There are anterooms, corridors and stairs to the women's gallery.
Behind the main Temple hall lie the adult reading rooms and religious instruction rooms for boys.

The second Temple in Poolstraße was solely a place of worship, whereas the new Temple is a more versatile building. It caters for Jewish life in the widest sense and forms the centre of religious, cultural and intellectual life of the Hamburg Temple community.

History of the Building: