Restored half-timbered synagogue from 1843 in Kalbach-Heubach with prayer hall, mikveh, and schoolroom – now a meeting place; visits by appointment.
October 31, 2026 – November 8, 2026
Sculptures by the artist Annette Scheder interpret the seven deadly sins as a mirror of today's ideals of consumption and performance; accompanied by artist-led tours and a supporting program of lectures and poetry. Open on weekend afternoons.
The synagogue was built in 1843 as a two-story half-timbered building on a stone base, after the Jewish community's previous prayer room had come to be considered unacceptable. The building combined worship, teaching, and living: on one side was the prayer hall with a women's gallery, on the other the schoolroom, the teacher's apartment, and a mikveh, which lay right next to the teacher's kitchen so that it could be used with heated water. Around 1860, Jews made up a good eighth of Heubach's population; in 1933, some 30 Jewish people still lived in the village.
The building passed to the municipality as early as the late 1920s and served as the town hall from 1939. For this purpose, the tall windows were bricked up and intermediate ceilings were installed; after 1945, people expelled from their homelands in the east lived in the building for a time. After it ceased to be used as the town hall, it fell increasingly into disrepair.
In 2003, the Förderverein Landsynagoge Heubach (friends' association) was founded and had the building restored by 2006 at a cost of around €780,000. In the process, the starry sky in the prayer hall was reconstructed and the mikveh was preserved in the condition in which it was found. The association received the Hessian Monument Protection Prize in 2007 for the restoration, and its then chair, Johanna Rau, was honored with the Obermayer German Jewish History Award in 2008.
Today, the former synagogue is a cultural center and meeting place used by the friends' association together with the Protestant church and the local heritage society. In addition to guided tours of the prayer hall, mikveh, schoolroom, and women's gallery, there are readings, lectures, and changing art exhibitions.
Admission is free.
| Groups | –Group guided tour: flat rate of €35. |
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Free for individual visitors; donations are welcome.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Rathaus (Heubach)
Parking available · 5-min walk to the entrance
Visitor groups park in the lot next to or behind the Bürgerhaus Heubach, Theodor-Heuss-Straße 1. Tour buses can stop at the "Rathaus" stop right on Friedensstraße 9.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Guided tours by arrangement with the friends' association; there is a dedicated contact person for school classes. Public guided tours on the history of the building are held occasionally. |
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