Ulm Synagogue

Kister Scheithauer Gross Architects - Leipheim, Germany - 2012

Key words: Community, Jerusalem, Kristallnacht, Mikvah, Torah, Weinhof, Windows, Württemberg

SYNAGOGUE EXTERIOR - Photography: © Christian Richters

The new synagogue in Ulm, completed in 2012, is both a spiritual space and a symbolic act of reclamation. Built by the Israelite Religious Community in Württemberg (IRGW), it stands in the Weinhof square, close to the site of the synagogue destroyed during Kristallnacht. Unlike its predecessor, which was embedded within roadside development, the new structure asserts presence through its solitary cuboid form - 24m wide, 16m deep, and 17m high - marking a visible and unapologetic return of Jewish life to the centre of Ulm.

Programmatically, the building integrates synagogue and community centre within a unified structure, containing worship spaces, a mikvah, school, meeting rooms, and daycare facilities. The sacral room departs from the orthogonal grid of the plan, aligning diagonally towards Jerusalem, the religious axis of Judaism. This gesture is further articulated by a corner window with a Star of David framework, whose 600 perforations illuminate the Torah shrine and project its symbolism outward.

Interior elements, such as the dodecagon lamp representing the twelve tribes, the bimah, and the Torah shrine - crafted in Israel -anchor ritual tradition within a contemporary architectural language. Critically, the project embodies resilience: by blending functional modernity with symbolic orientation and light, it restores presence, continuity, and dignity to a community once violently displaced.