1700 Years 2021-2022

There has been evidence of Jewish life in Germany for 1,700 years and in Unna for more than 700 years – and has flourished again since 2009. On December 11, 321, the Roman Emperor Constantine issued an edict (law) for Cologne, which stipulated that Jews could hold municipal offices in the Curia, the Roman city councils. An early medieval manuscript of this document is now in the Vatican.

With almost 30 events, the municipality and the district town of Unna are accompanying the official year celebrating 1700 years of Jewish life in Germany in 2021 and 2022, with the focus on conveying Jewish life in the synagogue of the community “haKochaw” and in the sukkah, the community’s provisional tabernacle.

The community offers synagogue tours, the community rabbi tells how liberal Judaism in the 19th century in German-speaking countries emerged between Jewish tradition and religion in the time of social, political and economic change and how liberal Jews live today. Fate, everyday life and culture are presented at music, literature and discussion evenings. A lecture on what makes wine ‘kosher’ is accompanied by a kosher wine tasting.

The time-critical film classic “Masel Tov Cocktail” including a special offer especially for school classes will be shown several times. There is also the opportunity to exchange ideas with a descendant of Holocaust survivors from Unna, who has traveled all the way from Peru to lay a stumbling block for his parents. Guided tours through the city area on the traces of past and present Jewish life in Unna complete the program.