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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Synagogue of Rouffach, listed as a historical monument in 1921, is one of the oldest Jewish buildings in Europe. Built around 1290 in the Upper Rhine, it served less than fifty years as a place of worship: the Jewish community was exterminated or expelled in 1338 during a pogrom. The building, converted into a farm and then a dwelling in the 15th century, nevertheless preserved medieval architectural traces, such as niches for holy books and a lintel engraved in Hebrew. Dendrochronological analyses (2020) confirmed its dating in the 13th century, reinforcing its heritage importance.

The architecture reveals a rectangular plan (11.3 m x 12.7 m) with thick walls of 80 cm, an absidiole to the east, and elements typical of Ashkenazi synagogues: strip for oil lamps, storage niches, and a displaced trilobed lintel door. Transformed in the 16th-17th centuries (addition of floors) and in 1905 (overbuilding), it was identified as a synagogue by Charles Winkler in 1905. Its state of conservation makes it a rare witness, comparable to the synagogues of Prague and Worms, despite the degradation (anti-Semitictags in 2021) and its sale in 2025, raising concerns for its preservation.

The site is linked to a network of 41 Alsatian Jewish communities (XIIIth–XIVth centuries), whose cemetery in Jungholtz served as a burial site. Today, associations such as the Maison du Judaisme Rhenan or the Route du Judaism rhenan are campaigning for its public access, stressing its role in the history of the Jews in France. Remnants protected since 1921 include aron (holy cabinet) filled, l-oculus, and Hebrew inscriptions, providing a unique glimpse of medieval religious life before the expulsion of 1338.

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