Construction of the synagogue 1842 (≈ 1842)
Replaces an 18th century building.
1940-1945
German occupation
German occupation 1940-1945 (≈ 1943)
Turned into a factory, looted and then sacked.
1983
Foundation of AMJAB
Foundation of AMJAB 1983 (≈ 1983)
Creation of the association by Gilbert Weil.
3 avril 1984
Historical monument classification
Historical monument classification 3 avril 1984 (≈ 1984)
Included in the additional inventory.
1er juillet 1998
Opening of the museum
Opening of the museum 1er juillet 1998 (≈ 1998)
After 15 years.
2023
Death of Gilbert Weil
Death of Gilbert Weil 2023 (≈ 2023)
Founder of the museum and AMJAB.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Gilbert Weil - Founder of AMJAB and museum
Initiator of site preservation.
Origin and history
The Judeo-Alsacian Museum of Bouxwiller is housed in the old synagogue of the village, built in 1842 to replace an 18th century building destroyed by the Nazis. This place of worship, used as a cardboard factory during the Second World War, was looted and ransacked at the end of the conflict. Only a small oratory remained there in the 1950s, before its abandonment in 1983, threatened with demolition to give way to a parking lot.
Faced with this threat, the Association of Friends of the Judeo-Alsacian Museum of Bouxwiller (AMJAB), founded in 1983 under the impulse of Gilbert Weil, campaigned for its preservation. After fifteen years of effort, the museum opened its doors on 1 July 1998. It highlights the culture of the rural Jews of Alsace, in symbiosis with their Christian neighbours for nearly a millennium, through an innovative museum that exploits the empty space left by the German destructions.
The synagogue, which was included in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments in 1984, is one of the 267 synagogues built in France after the Revolution, 184 of which were in Alsace-Moselle. This heritage reflects the historical importance of rural Jewish communities in the region. The AMJAB also worked to save other sites, such as the synagogues of Pfaffenhoffen and Hochfelden, or the necropolises of Ettendorf, via UNESCO-supported student projects.
The museum revolves around an Alsatian saying, Lewe un Lewe lonn ("Living and Let Live"), symbolizing local tolerance. Its interior architecture, designed to measure with ramps and light games, guides visitors through the themes of Alsatian Jewish life. The association, winner of the Prix Patrimoine Vivant of the Fondation de France, continues its research, exhibitions and publications to perpetuate this memory.
Gilbert Weil, founder of AMJAB and creator of the museum, died in 2023. His commitment allowed us to preserve a threatened heritage and to transmit the history of the Jews of Alsace, marked by centuries of coexistence with the Christian populations, despite the tragic ruptures of the twentieth century.
