page_title: Glockengasse Synagogue
section_title: Floor plan
hierarchical_section_title: Glockengasse Synagogue / Architecture / Floor plan
caption_attribution_description: Ground projection of the synagogue of the Glockengasse, built in 1865 and destroyed by the nazis in 1938. Architect drawing.
context_page_description: The Synagogue in Glockengasse was a synagogue in Cologne built to the plans of the architect of the Cologne Cathedral, Ernst Friedrich Zwirner. It was built on the site of the previous Monastery of St. Clarissa, where a modest hall of prayer had been erected in the years of the French occupation and had been closed in 1853 because it was unsafe.
  On June 10, 1856, after much discussion in the Jewish communal executive board about whether it was better to build a synagogue in the same or a different spot, Abraham Oppenheim, son of Salomon Oppenheim, Jr., announced his readiness to erect a synagogue worthy of the Glockengasse at his own cost as a gift to the community. Drucker-Emden, a member of the Jewish communal administration, supported the decision.
  The cornerstone was laid on June 23, 1857. On August 29, 1861, there was a procession from the provisional synagogue on St. Apernstrasse along Breitestrasse and Kolumbastrasse to the new synagogue. The synagogue was dedicated to Rabbi Israel Schwarz. A memorial tablet dedicated to the donor was placed inside and a medal of silver and bronze was struck.
  In June 1867, fire damaged the building.
context_section_description: It was the first example of a central plan over a Greek cross covered by a dome. The four arms of the cross had the same length, as in Byzantine architecture buildings. Through the association of a cross form with a square room emerged on the corners. The rooms on the side of the façade hold the staircases to the ladies gallery.
  The dome was inscribed in the central square, in the middle of which stood the bimah.
  The central position of the bimah shows that the Jewish community was attached to the old tradition, while the Roonstrasse Synagogue had a new floor plan, that was developed according to the Reform Judaism beliefs.
  A low wing of the entrance hall was built with five rooms in front of the square building structure on the street side. The five rooms served as entrance to the staircases to the ladies gallery, as entrance for the men to the main synagogue and a space for the synagogue attendants (Shammes).
caption: Floor plan of the Cologne Synagogue in the Glockengasse
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