Memorial: And the living take this to heart
Memorial: And the living take this to heart
Since 2008, 70 years after the beginning of its destruction, at the location of the former Baroque Synagogue, the art project "And the living take this to heart..." created by Olaf Wegewitz has been commemorating this destroyed place of prayer.With his sculpture, Wegewitz hopes to make visitors aware of the past as well as let them experience “the sacred dignity of places of religious worship”. To this end, the ground plan of the synagogue, for example, can be visualized as the structuring of the earthen surface follows the historical dimensions, so the corners of the former synagogue are visible, among other things. In addition, a designated path leads to the central places for the liturgy of a Jewish worship service: the Torah Ark facing east and the Bimah in the middle of the synagogue. The path ends with another stone slab where the Torah Ark had once stood.Another aspect of this nature bound sculpture is that nature “reconquered” the area after the destruction of a place of worship which had been created by people. Wegewitz alludes to this by leaving the spaces between the sacred elements described filled with the plants that had begun to grow there. Dominating the space as if within the framework of a Baroque garden are trees and plants that had already been mentioned in the Bible including a walnut tree, an apple tree, acanthus, wheat, genista, malva, thistles and poppies.
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The Jewish Community in Halberstadt
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