The synagogue in Phalsbourg has been chosen as one of 18 “emblematic” but endangered French heritage sites whose restoration or preservation will benefit from proceeds of the 2026 Heritage Lottery (Loto du Patrimoine) organized through the Heritage Foundation (Fondation du Patrimoine), and supported by the Culture Ministry and FDJ UNITED, the operator of France’s lottery games.
One heritage site was chosen from each of the 18 regions of mainland France, Corsica, and France’s overseas territories.
It is the ninth edition of the initiative, which provides financial support each year to endangered heritage sites through a scratch-card game sold to the general public.
The 18 sites “speak of the richness and diversity of our heritage, which it is up to us to protect and pass on in turn,” Culture Minister Catherine Pégard said in a statement.
The synagogue in Phalsbourg was built in 1857, replacing an earlier building dating from 1772. It was listed as a Historic Monument in 1996. There is no Jewish community anymore in Phalsbourg, and ownership of the synagogue was turned over to the city for a symbolic sum in 2001.
In 2024, the Heritage Foundation gave a €50,000 grant to the project aimed at turning the building into a music school and cultural venue.
The Heritage Foundation says the synagogue is in urgent need of restoration work.
Unoccupied for years, the synagogue and the adjoining rabbi’s house are in a state of serious disrepair: sagging roof, weakened facade, leaks, and damaged ceilings. Nets have had to be installed inside the synagogue to prevent pieces of the plaster ceiling from falling, as it crumbles due to the dampness beneath the roof. Access to the galleries has become dangerous because of their precarious stability. The roofs of the outbuildings are also collapsing. Some of the floors in the rabbi’s house are suffering from dampness and deteriorating.
The Heritage Lottery was established in 2018. This year’s 18 sites were chosen from a list of 650 sites reported to be at risk by the Heritage Mission arm of the Heritage Foundation. They were selected, the ministry statement said, “according to four main criteria: the heritage and cultural interest of the site, its state of peril, the maturity of the [restoration] project and its impact on the territory, and the development project.”
The 18 sites encompass a mix of places including industrial and archaeological sites, parks and gardens, religious heritage, homes, castles, and more.