The building that once housed the village synagogue is a more than 300-year-old two-floor timber-frame house with gable roof , rectangular windows and an attic floor . This building was bought by the Jewish community in the 18th century so that , after an expansion , a synagogue could be set up inside it . The prayer hall was on the upper floor ; there was no women 's gallery . The women 's worship area was set apart from the rest by a screen . The prayer hall had a vaulted wooden ceiling that was painted with a starry-sky pattern . For almost 200 years , the Argenschwang synagogue was the hub of the local Jewish community 's life . Then came the Nazis . On Kristallnacht ( 9 – 10 November 1938 ) , Nazi stormtroopers laid the building 's interior waste . In August 1939 , a farmer bought the property . In 1950 , the building was transferred back to the Bad Kreuznach/Birkenfeld Jewish religious community 's ownership , but they later sold it again . On 25 July 1980 , the old synagogue became a listed building , receiving monumental protection . That same year , the building had an outside makeover . More work was needed inside , where the prayer hall 's wooden-beam ceiling had to be dismantled owing to structural damage
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Argenschwang