How was the re-emerging Jewish religious practice after 1945 shaped by traditions before the
Shoah? To what extent was it influenced by new inspirations through migration and new cultural
contacts? By analysing objects like prayer books musical instruments Torah scrolls audio
documents and prayer rooms this volume shows how the post-war communities created new Jewish
musical architectural and artistic forms while abiding by the tradition. This peer-reviewed
volume presents contributions to the conference Jewish communities in Germany in Transition
held in July 2021 as well as the results of a related research project carried out by two
university institutions and two museums: the Bet Tfila - Research Unit for Jewish Architecture
(Technische Universität Braunschweig) the European Center for Jewish Music (Hanover University
for Music Drama and Media) the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum and the Jewish Museum
Augsburg Swabia. For the first time post war synagogues in Germany and their objects were
researched on a broad and interdisciplinary basis - regarding history of architecture art
history of their furniture and ritual objects as well as liturgy and musicology. The project
was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) during the years 2018 to
2021 in its funding line The Language of Objects.
