Jews are believed to have lived in Gunzenhausen as early as the 14th century; at the very least, a Jewish family is documented there for the first time in 1375. By the end of the 15th century, a "large" and highly respected Jewish community in Gunzenhausen is already mentioned. This would explain why a yeshiva - highly esteemed throughout the Empire - existed there during that period; in 1481, it hosted a meeting of the Empire's five most distinguished rabbis. One of them was Eisik Stein, the head of this Talmud school.

But a Jewish school, as a synagogue was colloquially known in the Middle Ages, was first mentioned in 1583. It stood at Waagstrasse 1 until around 1700, when its demolition is documented.

In 1718, construction of a new Jewish school began not far away at Auergasse 3. Around 1834 this synagogue had to be renovated. In 1880 it was demolished because it had obviously become too small.

The last synagogue in Gunzenhausen was built in 1882/1883. Planned by the Fürth builder Evora, it stood opposite the slaughterhouse. It was considered the most modern and magnificent synagogue in Franconia.

The inauguration took place on October 19, 1883. District Rabbi Aron Bär Grünbaum from Ansbach closed his sermon with the words:

But the domes of this house, a magnificent monument which enriches this town through its beauty and our community through the honour it imparts, will only tower above us when the lesson :

One God and one humanity has become flesh and blood to all visitors, and when the commandment :

You shall love your neighbour as yourself, or as others interpret these words :

You shall love your neighbour, for everyone is like you, everyone is a work of God

are recognized as the core doctrine of our religion and when this doctrine guides our entire life.

Unfortunately, the Jewish community had to 'sell' their place of worship to the city for 8,000 RM as early as 1938, on November 8, one day before the “Reichskristallnacht”.

The SA was ordered to burn the Synagogues all over Germany on November 10th, the day following the Reichskristallnacht. But the fire chief of Gunzenhausen refused to follow the order, “because the neighboring houses would be in danger of burning as well”. There is however suspicion that the city was against the plan (to burn the Synagogue) because after all, they owned it now.

So instead a week later the cupolas were torn off the towers. On November 15th the (paper) “Altmühl-Bote” had published a call to all the citizens of Gunzenhausen to attend the event, and many did.

On November 17th around noon many citizens did indeed show up to witness the spectacle. Mayor Appler made a speech to the crowd. He pointed out very correctly that “this event was of great significance for the city and an hour to remember”. The meaning of his words, as we see it today, may not have been what it seemed (at that time).

The “Altmühl-Bote" noted that the “strong fists of the carpenters toppled the cupolas at 2:30 pm”.

At the beginning of November 1938 sixty-four Jewish citizens were reported to still be living in Gunzenhausen. But immediately following the Pogrom their congregation began to disintegrate because most of their houses had been vandalized and the anti-Semitic epithets became unbearable.
Consequently only a few Jewish citizens witnessed the blasphemous acts.

Some of the precious ritual objects had already been stolen or were salvaged from the synagogue. Among them is a silver shield of the Holy Brotherhood from 1770.

Most of these objects are likely still in the Jewish Museum in Fürth.

Faye Dottheim Brooks (Burgstallstrasse 1) wrote to us from New York:
We received a letter from the Director of the Franken Jewish Museum that they have in their collection an item of property stolen from my grandfather during Kristallnacht and they are searching for direct descendants of Sigmund Dottenheimer. The item is a torah breastplate. ...
A torah breastplate is a Jewish ritual object, often made of silver and attached to a chain. It is placed or hung over the Torah.

Bernhard Purin, the director of the Jewish Museum of Franconia, ensured that the precious object was returned to the Dottenheimer family. The family generously entrusted it to the Gunzenhausen Museum as an exhibit for a while. Today, it is on loan to various exhibitions throughout Bavaria.

In January 1939, Gunzenhausen was declared free of Jews.

After the war, the IRSO put the synagogue and the grounds up for sale. The entrepreneur Theodor Loos acquired them and, after remodeling them, used them as a factory hall.

In 2001-2002, patients at the therapy center at Cronheim Castle created a model of the Gunzenhausen synagogue for the city museum.

In 2008, a special exhibition commemorating the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht focused on the final months of the Jewish community and the synagogue.