On September 5th, the European Day of Jewish Culture, Dr. Ludwig Spaenle visited the former synagogue in Obernbreit. Dr. Spaenle is the Bavarian state government's commissioner for Jewish life and against anti-Semitism, for remembrance work and historical heritage. On behalf of the Träger- und Förderverein ehemalige Synagoge Obernbreit e.V., the second chairman, Bernd Brückner, welcomed Mr. Spaenle and the invited guests with a brief outline of the history of the Jews in Obernbreit.
The tour was taken over by the former chairman of the association, Friedrich Heidecker. He referred to the earlier meetings with Mr. Spaenle in Munich during the awarding of prizes for the work of the association and was pleased that he could now demonstrate the project in situ.
After almost a hundred years of outside use, the association had taken over the building with the aim of establishing a place of remembrance and encounter. Reconstruction was not possible because of the high costs and lack of documentation. The installation of a modern hall would have meant to erase the last sign of Obernbreit Jews. So the association decided to design the interior in such a way that its history and the blemishes on the walls could be read.
During the subsequent conversation in a relaxed atmosphere, Dr. Spaenle praised the concept and was enthusiastic about the work of the association. He had the visible sparse remains of the synagogue and the necessity of the installations explained to him and also visited the mikvah, of which he was impressed and confessed that in all his travels through the country synagogues of Bavaria he had never seen a ritual bath of this depth and this state of preservation. He took a lot of time to talk, gave hints of help from his office, promised all possible help and would also lobby Minister Piazolo to get the schools, where possible, even more involved with projects like this one.
As a proof of how important it can be to appeal to his office, it turned out during the conversation that our mentioning of bureaucratic hurdles in the application process for the Corona bridging aid resulted in success after Dr. Spaenle's intervention - not only for us, but for similar cases all over Bavaria.
For the market town of Obernbreit, the mayor, Dr. Knof, promised that she, like her predecessor, would always have an open ear for the Träger- und Förderverein ehemalige Synagoge Obernbreit e.V. and, above all, that events of the association could take place in the town hall's citizens' hall during the cold season.
The event was held under the applicable Corona regulations.
