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POWER STEERING 8. ELECTRIC WINDOWS
104
CPR
can keep your love alive
A Rhine River City
Has Unusual Jewish Sites
continues with this
American Heart
Associations,
Fighting Heart Disease
and Stroke
805 E. MAPLE • BIRMINGHAM
(Bet. Adams & Hunter)
810-647-9090
RUTH ROVNER SPEC AL TO THE JEW SH NEWS
ith its scenic Rhine Riv-
er ambiance, its colorful
Old Town, and its ar-
chitectural landmarks,
Cologne is a city that attracts
many tourists.
They come to see its famed
cathedral, take a boat ride on the
Rhine, stroll or cycle on the wide
river promenade or even select a
bottle of cologne in the city so not-
ed for its fragrances.
But for Jewish travelers,
Cologne has still more attractions
and sites. It's a city with an event-
ful Jewish past — the first Jews
came here with the Romans —
and also one where a modem Ger-
man Jewish community is thriv-
ing.
Even before I walked along the
Rhine or took a boat cruise, I
headed for the City Hall Plaza in
the heart of Cologne's city center,
where the ornate city hall with its
dramatic tower was a striking
sight.
So was a modem glass pyramid
in the center of the plaza. This
pyramid was built by the city to
enclose an ancient mikvah that
was excavated on this site.
"It attracts a lot of attention,"
said Evelin Rose, a guide for the
city of Cologne. "Tourists always
stop and ask, 'What's that?"'
They can find the answers on
the display panels near the pyra-
mid, which explain that the mik-
vah, dating from 1170, was part
of the medieval Jewish quarter lo-
cated on this site.
"In the Middle Ages this was
one of the oldest and most signif-
icant Jewish communities in Ger-
many," Ms. Rose read, translating
from the German.
The plaque also explains that
the Jews living in this medieval
quarter were an integral part of
the city, and in fact, helped to de-
fend it in 1106 and 1180.
Modern visitors can not only
see the pyramid and the plaque,
but they can also descend and get
a first-hand look at the mikvah
that Jewish women used cen-
turies ago.
First, Evelin Rose went to the
city hall desk to get the key which
provides access. Visitors can also
do this themselves, providing they
leave their passports at the re-
ception desk.
Then we descended the deep
stairwell, which is almost 50 feet
in depth. We descended slowly,
and then, at the bottom, we stood
surrounded by thick stone walls,
looking at the well which was once
filled with rain water for Jewish
women to come for their ritual im-
mersion.
In the deep silence, the echoes
of history resonated. For a few
moments, we simply stood quiet-
ly, absorbing the silence of the
stone walls and the mood of the
past.
Nearby, a posted display pan-
el gave highlights about the rit-
ual bath and also about the
medieval Cologne Jewish com-
munity, described as "the spiri-
tual center of Rhineland Jews."
Eventually, these medieval
Jews, along with Protestants,
were expelled and forced to live
outside of Cologne after 1424 —
until Napoleon gave them free-
dom in 1804.
The mikvah was covered after
the expulsion. It was discovered
during excavations, which began
in 1953 and took four years. Still
later, an architect was commis-
sioned to design the modem glass
pyramid.
Outside again on the cobble-
stoned plaza, we continued our
tour of Jewish Cologne as we
strolled along the city's lively
pedestrian shopping street, Ho-
hestrasse. At one corner, Ms. Rose
pointed out a plaque which com-
memorates the Zionist meetings
held here between 1904 and 1911,
when Cologne was headquarters
of the World Zionist Organization.
As we walked, she also point-
ed out the Solomon Oppenheim
Bank, a prominent bank again
under Jewish ownership.
Next stop was the wide plaza
in front of Cologne's opera house,
the Offenplatz, which is named
for composer Jacques Offenbach,
son of a Cologne cantor. The opera
house itself stands on the site of
what was a major Cologne syna-
gogue — built by the same archi-
tect who completed Cologne's
great cathedral. A plaque honors
this site, too.
The synagogue took four years
to build and was completed in
1861. But like many other Ger-
man synagogues, it was com-
pletely destroyed on Nov. 9, 1938,
date of the infamous Kristall-
nacht, when synagogues and
Jewish businesses throughout
Germany were destroyed. But
Cologne does have one synagogue
which survived the Holocaust.
And after visiting the sites of the
past, I was eager to see it. A quick
tram ride brought me to Roon-
strasse.
On the corner, at No. 50, it was
impossible to miss the sight of the
majestic Roonstrasse Synagogue.
With its Moorish and Ro-
manesque design, and its soaring
dome, it was an impressive sight
indeed.