The Grand Est Region of France and the Regional Department of Cultural Affairs are carrying out an inventory survey of Jewish heritage in Alsace, with a particular focus on synagogues. The survey was launched in October 2024 and is scheduled to last two years.
It is being carried out by researcher Cécile Rivière of the Grand Est Region’s Inventory and Heritage Department, in scientific partnership with the Regional Conservation of Historic Monuments.
Results of the research and photographs are being made available to the public on the Open Heritage Platform of the Ministry of Culture pop.culture.gouv.fr and on the cultural heritage portal of the Grand Est Region https://sri.grandest.fr/etudes/patrimoine-juif-en-grand-est/ or inventaire.grandest.fr (NOTE: this last portal may not be online).
At a meeting last week, Catherine Trautmann (Maison du Judaïsme Rhénan – MJR) and Françoise Elkouby (MJR and Routes du Judaïsme Rhénan) presented the first results of the inventory, noting that results of the survey will form a key basis for their project to have the collection of more than 120 synagogues in Alsace recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Jewish heritage in Alsace ranges from the medieval period to today.
“Many synagogues have become homes, workshops or even sports and cultural facilities,” a brochure about the survey states.
Some Jewish sites are easily identifiable, while others are more discreet, or even invisible to the uninformed passer-by. The survey seeks to take account of all the facets of this heritage.
The chart below, provided by Françoise, lists 123 synagogues in Alsace that are still wholly or partially intact. Of these, 88 have been converted for other use and 21 are used regularly or only occasionally for worship.
This inventory research on Jewish heritage in Alsace follows on after previous research on Jewish heritage in the Grand Est.
The study of Jewish heritage as a distinct category was launched in 2006 in Lorraine and then extended in 2019 to Champagne and Alsace in 2016, the Cultural Portal states. “Emphasis was placed on the heritage that was most at risk of disappearance: objects and in particular mappoths and books, but also disused synagogues. A few cemeteries have been treated: Frauenberg or Fegersheim for example.”
Watch a video about Jewish heritage in Alsace:
Here’s a brochure about the survey:
1 comment on “France: A two-year scientific inventory survey of Jewish heritage in Alsace is underway, focusing on the region’s more than 120 synagogues”
Very moving and informative