Erich Klibansky Platz
Encyclopedia
The Erich Klibansky Platz in Cologne
quarter Altstadt-Nord, located on Helenenstraße, takes the name of Erich Klibansky
, the one-time and last headmaster of the Reformrealgymnasium Jawne
. It took his name in 1990.
It is the areal of land of the Jewish community Adass Jeschurun, where there were several school buildings and a synagogue.
In the same year an affiliated teachers’ college was built. At the same time of the Jewish elementary school, the Morijah, the seat of the Cologne administrative district was built in 1907-1909 in the nearby plot on St.-Apern-Straße by Carl Moritz (the nowadays Kreishausgalerie).
In 1919 the municipality built the Reformrealgymnasium „Jawne“ in St.-Apern-Straße, which was supported by the municipality, even if private.
The inside of the Synagogue was destroyed in November 1938 Kristallnacht
, the school was closed in 1942. The buildings were destroyed at the end of the war.
, a Gur Aryeh (Hebrew for “young lion”), remembers the 1100 murdered Jewish Cologne children, whose name are listed in a bronze plaque attached to the fountain basin.
The fountain, that was built in 1997 as a memorial, also remembers Erich Klibanksy, who was able to save 130 students entrusted to him organizing for them in 1938 an evacuation to Great Britain
. Hermann Gurfinkel, one of the survivors of the school, created the Lion Fountain for these escaped children.
history in Cologne, a lot of material has been examined and saved. Based in this collection, which after Dieter Corbach’s death went to the nazi documentation center of Cologne, a first exhibition was organized, “Jawne in Cologne”.
Mrs Corbach went on with the work after her husband’s death as delegate by the Synod for the Christian-Jewish dialogue in the Right Rhine Church circle. She also fostered the contacts with Jawne students all over the world.
The current (2007) exhibition with the slogan „The children of the next door schoolyard“ regards the former buildings of the Jewish-orthodox community Adass Jeschurun in St.-Apern-Straße 29-31. With the support of the Cologne Nazi documentation center (EL-DE-Haus), it is hoped that a comprehensible information will be provided on the everyday life of a Jewish school in the 1920/30 to all the young visitors through authentic images and the mostly translated text.
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
quarter Altstadt-Nord, located on Helenenstraße, takes the name of Erich Klibansky
Erich Klibansky
Erich Klibansky was headmaster and teacher of Jawne, the first Jewish Gymnasium of Rhineland in Cologne.-Life:...
, the one-time and last headmaster of the Reformrealgymnasium Jawne
Jawne
The Jawne was a Jewish Reformrealgymnasium in Cologne.- Name :The school took its name from the town Yavne near Tel Aviv, where the Jewish Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, after the destruction of Jerusalem in year 70 D.C., tried to maintain the Jewish traditions with a school of Jewish law.- History...
. It took his name in 1990.
Location
The area of the square is small, it came into being as a result of the transformations due to the second world war. The square, which is reserved to pedestrians, lies on the west end of Helenenstraße, between St.-Apern-Straße and Albertusstraße, opposite to the main entrance of the conference hotel Pullman.It is the areal of land of the Jewish community Adass Jeschurun, where there were several school buildings and a synagogue.
History of the square
St.-Apern-Straße was already in the middle of the 19th century a quarter where rich citizens had their homes and shops. . There were many exquisite antique shops, in which mostly Jewish owners sold expensive furniture and jewels. These inhabitants built in 1884 a synagogue of the orthodox community „Adass Jeschurun“.In the same year an affiliated teachers’ college was built. At the same time of the Jewish elementary school, the Morijah, the seat of the Cologne administrative district was built in 1907-1909 in the nearby plot on St.-Apern-Straße by Carl Moritz (the nowadays Kreishausgalerie).
In 1919 the municipality built the Reformrealgymnasium „Jawne“ in St.-Apern-Straße, which was supported by the municipality, even if private.
The inside of the Synagogue was destroyed in November 1938 Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
, the school was closed in 1942. The buildings were destroyed at the end of the war.
Löwenbrunnen (Lion Fountain)
A fountain decorated with the Lion of JudahLion of Judah
The Lion of Judah was the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible .-Lion of Judah and Judaism:...
, a Gur Aryeh (Hebrew for “young lion”), remembers the 1100 murdered Jewish Cologne children, whose name are listed in a bronze plaque attached to the fountain basin.
The fountain, that was built in 1997 as a memorial, also remembers Erich Klibanksy, who was able to save 130 students entrusted to him organizing for them in 1938 an evacuation to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. Hermann Gurfinkel, one of the survivors of the school, created the Lion Fountain for these escaped children.
Temporary exhibitions
Since 1980 through a yearlong research with the help of the married couple Dieter and Irene Corbach, who have committed themselves to examine the Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
history in Cologne, a lot of material has been examined and saved. Based in this collection, which after Dieter Corbach’s death went to the nazi documentation center of Cologne, a first exhibition was organized, “Jawne in Cologne”.
Mrs Corbach went on with the work after her husband’s death as delegate by the Synod for the Christian-Jewish dialogue in the Right Rhine Church circle. She also fostered the contacts with Jawne students all over the world.
The current (2007) exhibition with the slogan „The children of the next door schoolyard“ regards the former buildings of the Jewish-orthodox community Adass Jeschurun in St.-Apern-Straße 29-31. With the support of the Cologne Nazi documentation center (EL-DE-Haus), it is hoped that a comprehensible information will be provided on the everyday life of a Jewish school in the 1920/30 to all the young visitors through authentic images and the mostly translated text.
Sources
- Ulrike Mast-Kirschning: Zwischen Dom und Davidstern. Jüdisches Leben in Köln. Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln, o. J. (2001), ISBN 3-462-03508-8
- Carl Dietmar: Die Chronik Kölns , Chronik Verlag, Dortmund 1991, ISBN 3-611-00193-7
- Adolf KoberAdolf KoberAdolf Kober was a rabbi and a historian.- Life :Kober studied History, Philosophy and Oriental Languages at the University of Wrocław and received a PhD there in 1903 with a thesis on the medieval history of the Jews in Cologne...
, Cologne,The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1940, p. 271-272 available online - Adolf KoberAdolf KoberAdolf Kober was a rabbi and a historian.- Life :Kober studied History, Philosophy and Oriental Languages at the University of Wrocław and received a PhD there in 1903 with a thesis on the medieval history of the Jews in Cologne...
: Der Religionsunterricht der Synagogen-Gemeinde Köln. In: Jahrbuch der Synagogen- Gemeinde Köln 1934