Mainz is one of the oldest and most traditional Jewish communities in Europe. In the Middle Ages, the city was a center of Jewish learning and religion. The main synagogue, built in 1912 at the intersection of Hindenburgstraße and Josefsstraße according to a design by Stuttgart architect Willy Graf, was looted and set on fire during the pogrom night of November 9-10, 1938.

98 years after the inauguration of the main synagogue in Mainz and around 70 years after its destruction by the National Socialists, the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate once again received a visible sign of a new, vibrant Judaism in 2010. The new community center, built according to the plans of Cologne architect Manuel Herz, was erected on the same site.

"Kedushah" is the Hebrew word for "sanctification" in a blessing, whose five letters give the new synagogue in Mainz its shape and structure. The architecture, with its unique design language and facade surfaces covered with green glazed ceramic profiles, deliberately departs from conventional building forms and materials. Manuel Herz bridges the gap between the Middle Ages and the present without direct reference to persecution, pogroms, and the Holocaust. Rather, his architectural work is based on traditional texts from the Torah.

The fragments of the portico of the previous building standing on the forecourt also create a connection between the destroyed main synagogue of 1912 and today's synagogue. The postal address of the new Jewish community center has been renamed "Synagogenplatz" (Synagogue Square).

Visits and guided tours of the synagogue are only possible by appointment.