Synagoge Kriegshaber

Synagoge Kriegshaber stands in Augsburg’s Kriegshaber district, once a village outside the imperial city. The building is Bavarian Swabia’s oldest preserved synagogue. Its gabled roof, tall round-arched windows, and eastern bay window shape the historic exterior. A narrow western annex has a shed roof and completes the structure.

The synagogue replaced a smaller prayer room and served Jewish worship from around 1680. In 1862, renovation and enlargement adapted the building as the local community changed. The prayer hall occupies the upper floor, with a barrel vault and a gallery along three sides. An outside staircase leads to the gallery, while three southern doors distinguish the former rabbi’s apartment, old synagogue entrance, and present access.

After the Second World War, the building became a warehouse and prayer space for other religious groups. Augsburg bought it in 1955, but years of emptiness left the structure in disrepair. Extensive restoration began in 2011, and the former synagogue reopened in May 2014 as a branch of the Jewish Museum Augsburg Swabia. Exhibitions and educational events now explore Jewish life and the building’s history. Across from the synagogue stands the Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity, built between 1866 and 1868.