Old Synagogue (Alte Synagoge)
Hidden in a quiet courtyard off the Fischmarkt, this plain stone building is one of the oldest synagogues in Europe, with timbers dated to 1094. Forgotten for centuries and therefore preserved, it now guards the dazzling medieval Erfurt Treasure.
About this place
The Old Synagogue rises unassumingly at the heart of the medieval old town, only steps from the Merchants' Bridge and the town hall on what was once the via regia, the great royal trade road across Europe. Its oldest fabric dates to the 1090s, making it the oldest synagogue preserved right up to its roof anywhere on the continent. For some two and a half centuries it served a wealthy and confident Jewish community, until the pogrom that followed the Black Death in 1349 destroyed that community and left the building in the city's hands. Because its origins were soon forgotten, the synagogue escaped demolition and lived on for five hundred years as a warehouse, a ballroom, a restaurant and even a bowling alley. Only in the late 1980s was its true identity rediscovered, and in 2009 it reopened as a museum. Its centrepiece is the Erfurt Treasure, a hoard of silver coins, ingots and Gothic goldsmiths' work buried during the 1349 massacre, crowned by an exceptionally rare golden Jewish wedding ring. In 2023 the synagogue, together with the nearby mikveh and Stone House, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Key facts
- 1094 year — Timbers in the building have been dated by dendrochronology, making it the oldest synagogue preserved to its roof in Europe
- 3141 coins — Silver coins weighing about 24 kilograms were found in the Erfurt Treasure, hidden during the 1349 pogrom
- 2023 year — Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of Erfurt's Jewish-Medieval Heritage
📍 Waagegasse 8, 99084, Erfurt