The support group "Synagoge in Vöhl e.V.“ keeps alive the history of the Jews in Waldeck-Frankenberg with events and genealogical research. The preserved prayer room of the Synagogue lets you feel the atmosphere in times of the jewish community.
The synagogue in Voehl is a well-preserved building from 1827 with a gallery and vaulted ceiling. The interior was completely destroyed on the night of the pogrom in 1938. Today, events are held in this former prayer room; the adjoining rooms house a museum and a library about Judaism.
The sacred room of the synagogue lost its interior furnishings in 1938. With digital tools, the former impression of the room can be recreated.
Augmented reality is a digital extension of reality. The video (1:03min), was produced by the Landkulturboten 2021 Andre Stremmel and Erik Peper in 2021.
Erik Peper worked with the programme "Adobe Photoshop®" and, based on a photo, gave the sacred space back its original room setup.
The museum shows aspects of Jewish culture and way of life. The exhibition rooms are the former living quarters of the synagogue. Part of the museum is the prayer room of the synagogue.
These objects have survived from the time of the lively Jewish community in Vöhl.
Skulptur: "Auf der Schwelle zwischen Leben und Tod" (2007) von E. R. Nele
In 2002, this tour was created as a Power Point presentation.
This register about Jews from the Waldeck-Frankenberg district is „in progress“. That means that it is not and will never be complete. For several years I´ve been researching in various archives (e.g. Centrum Judiacum Berlin; The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem, The Hessian State Archives (Staatsarchiv Marburg), Archives from different communities in this district, and newspaperarchieves) as well as in regional historical literature. Only a small fraction of these sources could be evaluated and incorperated so far. At the moment, there are about 5800 CV of Jews in Waldeck. Family trees were created when enough data about the family was available. This was possible with about 160 Jewish families.
Grafik von mcmurryjulie auf Pixabay
This compilation is made for the internet - not as a book. A book is a finished product, on the internet there is always the opportunity to easily change and add things.
In in individual cases there is justified interest to delete and or remove information about certain persons the author is more than willing to do so.
In the heading of each biography the places in Waldeck- Frankenberg with which the people are connected to are named. If those places are in bold print they lived there for some time. If those places are in normal print they were either related (spouse; children; etc.) to Jews or only lived there for a short period of time.
If you see any mistakes, corrections or have additional information you would like us to include send a mail to
by Karl-Heinz Stadtler
Foto: Kurt-Willi JuliusOn the (pre-)Easter days of 1945 - 80 years ago - the Second World War came to an end for the communities of today's Waldeck-Frankenberg district. The war had been associated with death and destruction, hardship and misery. Some history buffs and Jewish descendants from our region would like to commemorate these days with a book.
Dr. Marion Lilienthal from Korbach, Heinrich Figge from Höringhausen, Ernst Klein from Volkmarsen, Karl-Hermann Völker and Dr. Horst Hecker for Frankenberg, Dr. Heinrich Knoche and Karl-Heinz Stadtler from Vöhl have taken on this topic. Johannes Grötecke also gave descendants of Jews from Bad Wildungen the opportunity to describe how their parents or grandparents experienced the “Third Reich” and built up a new existence in a foreign country after emigrating. Carol Davidson Baird from the USA, Michael Dimor from Israel and Ruben Herzberg, a descendant of Vöhl Jews, will tell the story of their ancestors. Prof. Dr. Dietfrid Krause-Vilmar has agreed to present the book to the public. Sahra Küpfer, music teacher and board member of the Förderkreis since its foundation, will create a festive setting with her songs. It will be possible to purchase the book on this “first publication day”.
