City: Étain is a municipality
in the French region of Lorraine, in northern France. This
town, lying on the river Orne, is situated 68 kilometers from
Metz.
The first indication of this place was in a charter of
the year 706/707. In this charter it is spoken of as ‘Villa
the Stain’. Its ongoing history was quite eventful.
During the 17th century Etain suffered much destruction and
painful events. Wars, massacres by armies and epidemics resulted
in many casualties, deaths and destruction of buildings. After
the thirty years war (1618-1648) Etain ,in 1650, had just
some forty inhabitants. During the 18th century the area suffered
Prussian raids. In 1914 there were heavy bombardments by the
German army, leaving the city largely destroyed. Then again
in 1940 the town suffered further bombardments.
Today Étain has 3,746 inhabitants (2009) living
on in an area of 19.64 km².
Bldg.: Synagogue, rue the Morteau.
In 1806, there was a Jewish community of 14 families.
More families immigrated so that by 1914 the Jewish population
made up 3% of the total population. In 1926, under architect
Stern a new synagogue was built, replacing the synagogue of
1877. The inauguration of the synagogue took place on October
21, 1928.
Object: God’s name is
clearly placed on the façade. The name is written in
Hebrew inside the Star of David written across two of the
triangles.
