The former synagogue survived the pogrom night of 1938 and has now been freshly restored to its former beauty.
Spirituality has many faces in the border triangle of Upper Lusatia, Bohemia and Lower Silesia. In addition to Christian sites of great cultural and historical significance, the region was also home to Jewish life for centuries. The magnificent New Synagogue in Görlitz, built in 1911, is a rare surviving testimony to this period. It survived the pogrom night of 1938 with comparatively little damage - the fire was extinguished.
Designed by the renowned Dresden architects Lossow & Kühne, the building remained unused for a long time after the Shoah. It was not until 1991 that extensive renovation work began. Thanks to support from federal funds, the building was ceremoniously reopened in 2021 as the Görlitz Synagogue Cultural Forum - as opulent and beautiful as when it opened 110 years earlier.
Today, the synagogue is the only surviving large community synagogue in Saxony - a silent monument to Jewish history and part of the Via Sacra.
This point is also a stop on our audio guide.
