Heritage Journeys
Jewish Heritage in Historic Germany
1,700 Years of Jewish Life in the Historic Highlights of Germany
Jewish life in Germany spans more than 1,700 years, and the Historic Highlights cities preserve that story in many dimensions. From a UNESCO-listed synagogue to an art museum designed by Daniel Libeskind, a preserved medieval quarter, and synagogues, these university cities document and honor Jewish heritage across Germany.
Jewish Heritage Cities
Erfurt Town Hall, Stadtverwaltung Erfurt, Vitalik GuertlerErfurt
Erfurt’s medieval Jewish heritage received UNESCO World Heritage status in 2023. The Old Synagogue, with parts dating to the late 11th century, is among the oldest surviving synagogues in Central Europe and displays the Erfurt Treasure, including a golden Jewish wedding ring of breathtaking craftsmanship. The medieval mikveh by the Krämerbrücke and the Stone House complete the ensemble, all of which are explorable on dedicated guided tours.
Historic Highlights of Germany
Osnabrück Felix Nussbaum Haus, TOL, sc finke-ennenOsnabrück
The Felix Nussbaum Haus, Daniel Libeskind’s first completed building, is devoted to the Osnabrück-born painter murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. Its deliberately disorienting architecture mirrors Nussbaum’s life in hiding, and the collection of his haunting self-portraits is among the most moving museum experiences in Germany.
Würzburg Old Main Bridge, Jan R SchaeferWürzburg
Würzburg holds one of the world’s most significant collections of medieval Jewish gravestones: roughly 1,500 stones from the 12th to 14th centuries, rediscovered by chance in 1987. The Shalom Europa Museum and Cultural Center presents them alongside exhibits on Jewish life, ritual, and the community’s continuing presence in the city.
Regensburg Neupfarrplatz Square, RTG, Julian Elliot PhotographyRegensburg
Beneath Neupfarrplatz lie the remains of one of medieval Germany’s most important Jewish quarters, accessible at the document Neupfarrplatz underground site. Above ground, Israeli artist Dani Karavan transformed the floor plan of the destroyed synagogue into a walkable relief sculpture, a memorial meant to be touched, sat upon, and lived with rather than merely observed.
Augsburg Fugger and Welser Museum, Regio Augsburg Tourismus GmbH, Rudolf MorbitzerAugsburg
Augsburg’s synagogue, completed in 1917, is one of the few in Germany to have survived the Nazi era largely intact, and its domed Art Nouveau interior ranks among the country’s most beautiful sacred spaces. It houses the Jewish Museum Augsburg Swabia, the first independent Jewish museum founded in postwar Germany.
Heidelberg Old Town, Heidelberg Marketing GmbH
Heidelberg University Library, Heidelberg Marketing GmbH, Tobias SchwerdtHeidelberg
Heidelberg is home to the University for Jewish Studies, one of Europe’s largest institutions of its kind, which trains rabbis, cantors, and scholars in partnership with the venerable Heidelberg University. Jewish-themed city walks trace the community’s long history in the old town.
Luebeck Guenter Grass House, LTMLübeck
Lübeck’s Carlebach Synagogue of 1880, badly damaged in 1938 and disfigured for decades, was magnificently restored and rededicated in 2021. Its renewed Moorish-style interior now anchors an active congregation and welcomes visitors, a powerful symbol of return in the Hanseatic city.
Jewish Heritage Across The Historic Highlights
Throughout all 17 cities, Stolpersteine set into the pavement keep individual names and fates of Jewish residents present in everyday life. Freiburg’s Platz der Alten Synagoge with its memorial fountain tracing the destroyed synagogue’s foundations, Wiesbaden’s Michelsberg memorial at the site of its grand synagogue, Münster’s rebuilt synagogue of 1961 among the first in postwar Germany, and Potsdam’s brand-new synagogue, opened in 2024, the first built in Brandenburg since the war.
