Old Synagogue (Erfurt)
medieval synagogue building
The Old Synagogue (German: Alte Synagoge; Yiddish: אלטע שול, ערפורט; Hebrew: בית הכנסת הישן (ארפורט)) is a former Jewish synagogue, located in Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany.
Dating from the late 11th century, the synagogue is one of the best preserved Medieval synagogues in Europe. Most parts of the building date from around 1250–1320. Following the massacre and expulsion of the local Jewish community in the wake of the Black Death in 1349, the building served various purposes in the centuries that followed such as a storehouse, restaurant, and ballroom. By the Nazi era, its history as a synagogue had long been forgotten, allowing the building to remain untouched – it was only in the late 1980s that its history met renewed interest. Due to the fact that its roof is intact, it is thought to be the oldest intact synagogue building in the world.
Since 2009, it has been used as a museum of local Jewish history. It houses the Erfurt Treasure, a hoard of medieval coins, goldsmiths' work and jewellery found in 1998. It also has facsimiles of the Erfurt Hebrew Manuscripts, an important collection of 12th–14th century religious texts that belonged to the medieval Jewish community of Erfurt.
The Historic Synagogues of Europe project, carried out by the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has given the Old Synagogue, Erfurt its highest level of significance rating: 4 (International) – "The building is of outstanding architectural, urban or historical importance.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Old Synagogue (Erfurt)” is medieval synagogue building. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Synagogue, Erfurt and medieval, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “medieval synagogue building” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q436286. VIAF identifies the subject as 130730376. The Library of Congress control number is no2010030768. Authority coordinates are 50.979, 11.029. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1250, 1320, 1349 and 2009.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Old Synagogue (Erfurt)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Old Synagogue (Erfurt) primary sources, Old Synagogue (Erfurt) archive and Synagogue research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Old Synagogue (Erfurt)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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This entry incorporates text from “Old Synagogue (Erfurt)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.