)
The Center of Jewish Art
and the
Institut fuer Baugeschichte at the Technische Universitaet
Braunschweig, carried out a joint expedition in June and July 1999. The purpose of the
expedition was to document former synagogues in Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen and Thüringen
using the most innovative techniques in measuring, including the laser distance
measurement system in combination with the tachymeter and trigomat program, as well as the
massband system (trigomatsystem). These systems were developed by Dr. Friedrich Balck of
the Technische Universitaet Clausthal. Utilizing these techniques, researchers documented
the Woerlitz Synagogue in Sachsen-Anhalt, the cemetery chapel and Jewish cemetery in
Plauen, Saxony, and the Aschenhausen Synagogue in Thuringia.
The German and Israeli teams also had the opportunity to review the progress of the documentation project, which has been in process since 1994.
In this region alone researchers documented seven existing structures in Saxony and seven in Thueringen. Archival research revealed three additional structures in Saxony and nine in Thuringia.
Researchers documenting the Woerlitz Synagogue in Sachsen-Anhalt dated 1789.
Pictured here are members of the expedition team from left to right: Ivan Ceresnjes from the Center for Jewish Art; Prof. Dr. Harmen Thies; Dr. Aliza Cohen-Mushlin; Zoya Arshavsky from the Center for Jewish Art; Katrin Kessler, Ulrich Knufinke, Simon Paulus, all from the Institut fuer Baugeschichte (Technische Universitaet Braunschweig); and Dr. Friedrich Balck (Technische Universitaet Clausthal).
