Keep memory wake up: Old synagogue EPE is revived!

Keep memory wake up: Old synagogue EPE is revived!

On March 30, 2025, around 30 people visited the Jewish cemetery at Vereinsstraße 72a in Gronau. This event was led by Rudolf Nacke, the second chairman of the Alte Synagoge Epe. During the leadership, Nacke gave the attendance to the life of the deceased who were buried in the cemetery between 1828 and 1936.

An important part of the story presented Nacke also dealt with the former synagogue at Wilhelmstraße 5 in Epe. This synagogue was donated by Jacob Lebenstein in 1907 and served the Jewish community Epe as a church until 1938. The pogrom night from November 9th to 10th 1938 was a turning point in the history of the synagogue when the building was set on fire.

The history of the synagogue

After the devastating fire, the synagogue was converted into a fire station. In the 1960s, Albert Mendel, a member of the Jewish community, returned from exile and asserted property rights to the building. From then on, the synagogue was used as an apartment for the Mendel family, as a DRK home and the old meeting place. The building has been empty since 2012 until the Alte Synagoge Epe support group was founded in 2017, which emerged from an initiative group of the Heimatverein EPE.

The building of the old synagogue has now been listed. A specialist company has dismantled the interior of the building in line with the monument and the research work of the LWL Culture Foundation has started. The support group has the ambitious goal of bringing the old synagogue of new use. After extensive renovation and restoration work, the building should become a place of memory, encounter, learning and culture.

a place of encounter

The homepage of the Alte Synagoge Epe support group informs about its activities, plans and contact options for interested parties. Support, suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome. A decisive element in the history of the Jewish community in Epe is the Lifestein family, which played a key role. The family was made available by the family in 1907 for the construction of the synagogue. After the fire in the pogrom night in 1938, Salomon Lebenstein was forced to sell the building to the municipality of Epe. His original signature is documented on the sales contract.

The subtitle "Where encounter becomes alive" refers to the future use of the old synagogue as a meeting place, which is supposed to bring people together as a "third place". The planning and implementation of this vision are in full swing and could make a significant contribution to memory of the Jewish history of the region.