Where remembrance is kept alive today: cemeteries, former and new synagogues, Stolpersteine (stumbling stones), research institutions and museums along the Moselle.
1. Jewish cemeteries along the Moselle
In the district of Bernkastel-Wittlich alone, Jewish cemeteries have been preserved in the following places: Bausendorf, Bengel, Brauneberg, Enkirch, Kröv, Lieser, Lösnich, Neumagen-Dhron, Osann-Monzel, Thalfang, Trittenheim, Wittlich and Zeltingen-Rachtig.
Of particular significance are:
- Trier (Weidegasse) — established in 1651, after Jewish families had been re-admitted around 1610/1620.
- Wittlich (Stäreberg) — oldest stones 1671/72; with more than 700 gravestones, one of the largest and best-preserved Jewish cemeteries in Rhineland-Palatinate.
- Bernkastel — established in 1866, in use 1867–1932; around 33 gravestones.
- Cochem — preserved and documented.
- Beilstein — on the hillside above the village.
- Koblenz — cemetery since 1303 (the community purchased a vineyard for the purpose).
2. Synagogues — lost and preserved
Most Moselle synagogues were looted or destroyed during the November Pogrom of 1938. Some buildings have survived — mostly repurposed:
- Trier (Kaiserstraße) — new synagogue inaugurated in 1957, incorporating a stone from the destroyed synagogue at the Zuckerberg into its masonry.
- Wittlich — the former synagogue (1910) has been used since 1976 as a cultural and conference venue.
- Beilstein — former synagogue (18th/early 19th century), restored since 1990, now an art gallery.
- Koblenz (at the old cemetery) — today's synagogue is housed in the former mortuary hall of 1925.
Other noteworthy former synagogue sites can be found in Trittenheim, Münstermaifeld, Zell, Bruttig-Fankel and Ediger-Eller.
3. Stolpersteine
In numerous Moselle towns, Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) by the artist Gunter Demnig have been laid. Placed directly outside the last freely chosen residence, they commemorate those who were deported and murdered. In Bernkastel-Kues, on the 70th anniversary of the November Pogrom in 2008, seventeen Stolpersteine were laid in front of four houses. Stolpersteine have also been laid in Trier, Wittlich, Cochem, Zell and Koblenz.
4. Research and remembrance institutions
Emil Frank Institute, Wittlich (1997). Jointly supported by the University of Trier, the Faculty of Theology Trier and the town of Wittlich. The institute is a place of encounter between Jews and non-Jews in research, teaching and education. It runs an academic library with more than 11,000 media items in cooperation with the Wittlich Town Library. Research focus: Jewish communities in the Moselle, Eifel and Hunsrück regions.
Arye Maimon Institute for the History of the Jews, University of Trier (1996/97). Named after the German-born Israeli historian Arye Maimon (Herbert Fischer), co-editor of Germania Judaica III. Research focus: history of the Jews in Western and Central Europe, especially in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Several publication series, with its own bibliography containing more than 16,000 entries.
Trier City Archive. Holds a photographic collection on the Jewish Loeb family as well as the „Vorläufiges Gedenkbuch für die Juden von Trier 1938–1943“ (Preliminary Memorial Book for the Jews of Trier 1938–1943) by Reiner Nolden (1994/1998). In 2021 the city published a podcast on the history of the Loeb family.
5. Museums and permanent exhibitions
- Stadtmuseum Simeonstift Trier — dedicated sections on the Jewish history of the city; multimedia online project „Orte jüdischen Lebens in Trier“ (Sites of Jewish Life in Trier).
- Wittlich Synagogue — permanent exhibition „Jüdisches Leben in Wittlich“ (Jewish Life in Wittlich) in a building next to the former synagogue (completely redesigned in 2022).
- Beilstein — former synagogue as a gallery — open to visitors.
- Koblenz — guided tour „Shalom an Rhein und Mosel“ (Shalom on the Rhine and Moselle) offered by the tourist information office.
6. Living present — today's Jewish communities
The medieval and early-modern rural communities along the central Moselle — Bernkastel, Wittlich, Beilstein, Cochem, Zell and the smaller villages — were annihilated in the Shoah and never re-established as separate religious congregations. Active Jewish communities today exist in the immediate Moselle area only at the two endpoints of the region:
- Jüdische Kultusgemeinde Trier (Jewish Religious Community of Trier) — the direct successor to the medieval and early-modern community. The synagogue on Kaiserstraße was consecrated in 1957; one of the rubble stones of the synagogue at the Zuckerberg destroyed in 1938 serves as its foundation stone. The community today has around 500 members, overwhelmingly of post-Soviet origin (immigration since the 1990s). It is a member of the Landesverband der Jüdischen Gemeinden von Rheinland-Pfalz (State Association of Jewish Communities of Rhineland-Palatinate).
- Jüdische Kultusgemeinde Koblenz (Jewish Religious Community of Koblenz) — at the confluence of Moselle and Rhine. Its synagogue on Schlachthofstraße occupies the former mortuary hall of the Jewish cemetery, built in 1925. Approximately 700 members, again predominantly of post-Soviet background. Also a member of the state association.
Both communities serve as centres for religious services, social work, religious instruction and remembrance. Between Trier and Koblenz — that is, along the actual middle and lower Moselle — no registered Jewish community remains today. Occasional services or events in places like the former synagogue of Wittlich or in Beilstein take place within the framework of remembrance and cultural programmes. Contact details for the two active communities can be found on the contact page.