The Bornplatz synagogue or Margrit Kahl’s mosaic? An art historical appeal to preserve Hamburg’s place in German postwar memory culture

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent months, debate has been swirling in Hamburg over the rebuilding of the Bornplatz synagogue. My concern is a work of art, ‘Synagogue Monument,’ a memorial created by local artist Margrit Kahl (1942–2009) to mark the fiftieth jubilee of the November pogrom. Kahl traced the synagogue’s outline with cobblestones, on its original scale, as well as its complex domed ceiling and vaulted spaces. At present, the inclination is to integrate the mosaic into the new synagogue. If this plan is carried out, the decisive features of this work of art would be destroyed, and with it the memory of the old local Jewish community. Moreover, it would come at the expense of the significant place Hamburg holds in German postwar memorial culture.