Museo LVR-Kulturhaus Landsynagoge Rödingen

The building complex:

Country synagogue and residential building

Jewish men and women lived in the village of Rödingen (municipality of Titz, district of Düren) as early as the Middle Ages. In the 19th century, a small community developed here. In 1841, Isaak Ullmann, the long-standing community leader, had a synagogue built on his property for the Jewish families in Rödingen and the surrounding villages.

The Rödingen synagogue is the only Jewish place of worship in the western Rhineland that has been preserved largely in its original condition. The descendants of the Ullmann family, who had fallen into financial difficulties as a result of Nazi persecution, were forced to sell the property and buildings in 1934. The new Christian owner was a showman. From then on, he used the former synagogue as a workshop. Because of its ‘Aryan’ owner, it escaped destruction during the November pogroms of 1938.

The Rhineland Regional Council was able to acquire the very dilapidated buildings in 1999. After renovation, the building complex was opened in 2009 as the LVR-Kulturhaus Landsynagoge Rödingen. The former synagogue now hosts monthly lectures, concerts, readings, film screenings and workshops. In the former residence of the Ullmann family, a permanent exhibition invites visitors to learn about various aspects of Jewish life in the Rhineland.

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The Ullmann family:

Founders of the synagogue

From 1789 to 1934, the Rödingen residence was the centre of the Ullmann family's life. The history of the Ullmanns can be traced back over 200 years. In many ways, it is typical of the history of Jews in the Rhineland in the 19th and 20th centuries. Their life stories tell of migration and settlement and of the professions that were open to Jews. They tell of the long road to legal equality as well as of the commitment to the small Jewish community in the countryside.

At the beginning of the 20th century, only a few elderly Jewish people remained in Rödingen, including Sibilla, the youngest daughter of the synagogue builder. The younger generation had left the village. In the countryside as in the city, the Ullmann family did not escape exclusion, disenfranchisement and persecution during the Nazi era.

Traces tell the story

From 2006 to 2008, the Rödingen building complex was carefully renovated by the LVR. Traces that were inconspicuous at first glance were secured or made visible again. The Torah niche, women's gallery and parts of the wall paintings are reminders of the synagogue's former religious function. The aim of the renovation was not to reconstruct a specific state of the building, but to illustrate its entire history from 1841 to the present day. Thus, traces of its misuse as a workshop after 1934 were also preserved and made visible. In the residential building, traces tell stories about the former residents, their religion, professions and way of living and furnishing their homes. The traces of mezuzahs on all the door frames in the residential building are impressive. In accordance with Jewish tradition, the Ullmann family affixed mezuzahs as an expression of their piety and Jewish identity.

Media and museum education

Audio guides are available in German, English and easy language for free use. The easy language option is aimed at people with cognitive impairments and those who do not speak German well. In the media room, visitors can watch films about the life of Rhineland Jews and religious dietary laws, and use the library.

Museum education programmes have been developed for children and young people to look, ask questions, ‘understand’ and play. The latest module is the award-winning Biparcours learning app ‘Das Quiz!’ (The Quiz!). In an exciting tour with your own smartphone, old photos, audio recordings and quiz elements provide additional insights into the exhibition. Our flyer ‘Schüler in die Synagoge’ (Schoolchildren in the Synagogue) provides information about the museum's educational programme.