Memorial Signs for the Kirschner and Goldlust couples,
Herzog-Max-Straße 7

In memory of the destruction of the main synagogue in Herzog-Max-Straße 85 years earlier, a memorial service for Ida and Emanuel Kirschner as well as Gisela and Leopold Goldlust took place on 12 June 2023.

Emanuel Kirschner was cantor of the main synagogue in Munich for 45 years from 1881 to 1926, performed as a singer and taught singing and Jewish music at the Akademie für Tonkunst. He lived with his wife Ida in the community centre of the Jewish Community at Herzog-Max-Straße 7. When the National Socialists destroyed the synagogue in 1938 and confiscated the community centre of the Jewish Community, Ida and Emanuel Kirschner had to leave their home and move into the IKG retirement home. Emanuel Kirschner died there in September 1938 and Ida Kirschner died in 1942 in the Jewish retirement home on Klenzestraße.

Leopold Goldlust and his wife Gisela moved to Munich in 1906. The property manager at the Munich theatre also lived with his wife Gisela in the community centre of the Jewish Community. During the pogrom night of 9 November, the National Socialists carried out a mock hanging in the entrance gate of the house, which Leopold Goldlust only just survived. In December 1938, the Goldlust couple were forced to move into the Jewish community's collective accommodation. In 1939, the Gestapo arrested Leopold Goldlust and deported him to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was murdered in December 1939. Gisela Goldlust was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto in the summer of 1942, where she died in April 1944.

A memorial event was held in their honour on 12 June 2023 at their former home in Herzog-Max-Straße and with a view of the memorial to Munich's destroyed main synagogue. Speakers included City Councillor Manuel Pretzl, representing the Lord Mayor of the City of Munich, and Dr h.c. mult. Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, followed by Tobias Sauerbier, CEO of SIGNA Real Estate. Dr Eva Tyrell from Public History Munich showed pictures of the former main synagogue and the neighbouring community centre of the Jewish Community. The Memorial Signs for Emanuel and Ida Kirschner and Leopold and Gisela Goldlust were then installed.

Ernst Grube, a Holocaust survivor from Munich, then spoke about his memories as a child in the neighbouring Herzog-Max-Straße 3, where he lived with his parents and siblings until 1938. David and Judy Kirschner - who had travelled all the way from the USA - spoke on behalf of the relatives of Emanuel and Ida Kirschner, and Dr Bernd Hontschik dedicated his In Memoriam to the residents of the community centre. Andrea Stadler-Bachmeier from the Altstadt- Lehel district committee gave the closing address. Rabbi Shmuel Aharon Brodman then sang the El Male Rachachim.

In the evening, a concert and reading in honour of the cantor and composer Emanuel Kirschner took place in the Jewish community centre on St. Jakobs-Platz. Cantor Nikola David and the Ensemble Cantus München performed samples of Emanuel Kirschner's multifaceted synagogue music. Dr Andreas Heusler reported on the life's work of the cantor, religious teacher and composer. Armand Presser read from Kirschner's unpublished memoirs and other historical sources. The musical evening took place in the presence of the President of the Jewish Community, Dr h.c. mult. Charlotte Knobloch, and Anton Biebl, Head of Cultural Affairs of the City of Munich.