Lappenberg (Hildesheim)


Lappenberg is a historic street in Hildesheim, a city in Lower Saxony in Germany. It was the center of the Jewish community.

Location

Lappenberg is a street with a triangular place. It is in the South of the district Neustadt between Wollenweberstrasse, another historic street, and Neues Tor, a medieval city gate. Kehrwiederwall, a part of the rampart system which was built around Hildesheim in the Middle Ages, is in the South of Lappenberg. The famous tower Kehrwiederturm, one of the most important sights of Hildesheim, is behind Lappenberg in the small lane Am Kehrwieder. Gelber Stern, another historic street with interesting buildings, is close by.

History

Jews have lived in Hildesheim from the beginning of the 16th century approximately, and in 1536, the street Lappenberg was mentioned as a residence of Jews for the first time. The street developed into the center of the Jewish community. In 1803 Hildesheim had 11,108 habitantes of whom 377 were Jews.
The synagogue of Hildesheim was built in Lappenberg in 1849 by E. F. Schwartz, an architect from Hanover, and in 1881 a Jewish school was inaugurated opposite. Most of the Jews of Hildesheim lived in the streets and lanes around Lappenberg. In 1933, Hildesheim had 62,519 inhabitants of whom 515 were Jews. The synagogue was destroyed on 9 November 1938.
In the Second World War, Lappenberg and the streets and lanes around received comparatively little damage. A part of house no. 12 was damaged during an air raid on 22 February 1945, and house no. 16 was destroyed on 22 March 1945, but it was rebuilt in the original style after the war. Some houses were damaged the same day.
The monument of the synagogue was built in 1988 at the very place where the synagogue had stood before 1938.
Today Lappenberg is one of the most important sights of Hildesheim.

Sights and Architecture

lived in Hildesheim from 1971 until his death in 1974. He died in the hospital Sankt-Bernward Krankenhaus. Schindler lived in the street Goettingstrasse in Weststadt, a residential area in the West of Hildesheim. A commemorative plaque can be seen at the house no. 30 where he lived.
The new synagogue of Hildesheim was inaugurated on 10 November 2009 in a building provided free by the Catholic Church. In 2009, the Jewish community had 35 members.