Cologne commemorates the pogrom night: event highlights in November 2025!

Cologne commemorates the pogrom night: event highlights in November 2025!

November 9, 2025 marks the 87th anniversary of the terrible pogrom night of 1938, and for many people in Cologne this is an important occasion to commemorate the crimes of National Socialism. The importance of these memorial events is no coincidence: churches and local initiatives are actively committed to ensuring that what happened is not forgotten. Loud kirche-koeln.de A diverse program has been put together that extends over several days.

The events begin on November 6th with an extended silence to commemorate the night of the pogrom. At 6:00 p.m., participants will gather in the forecourt of the Jewish Museum in Cologne. This silent act of remembrance leads to the site of the former synagogue on Roonstrasse, whereby speeches and banners are deliberately avoided. The following day, November 7th, the musical-literary memorial hour “Menorah” will take place in the Paul Gerhardt Church at 7:30 p.m., where klezmer music and texts will be heard.

A wide range of commemorative formats

November 8th will be marked by a benefit concert under the motto “Remembrance and Hope” in the Christ Church Dellbrück, also at 7:30 p.m. Works by famous composers such as Brahms and Schubert are performed here, and the profits go to the renovation of the organ. On the same day, November 9th, at 11:00 a.m. in the Johanneskirche there will be a special commemoration in honor of Margot Friedländer, accompanied by music and speeches.

There will be no shortage of events on the evening of November 9th. At 5:00 p.m. all music lovers are invited to the organ concert to commemorate the pogrom in the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Church. Visitors can expect a program with works by Sweelinck, Mendelssohn and others. Finally, the memorial and blessing evening “Lights of Remembrance” begins at 6 p.m. in the Evangelical Community Center in Cologne-Pesch, followed by a service against forgetting in the Antoniterkirche, musically conducted by Leonard Klimpke.

Common remembrance

The ecumenical memorial event in the Church of St. Dionysius in Longerich at 7:00 p.m. will be another highlight, at which Protestant and Catholic communities will commemorate the victims together. At the same time, silent walks and memorial events also take place in the surrounding communities, including at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Erftstadt and at the Jewish memorial in Wesseling.

It is essential that we remember the past to learn lessons for our society today. The commitment of the communities in Cologne and the Rhein-Erft district shows that the commitment to preventing forgetting remains strong and that shared remembrance is highly valued. The 歴史 of National Socialism teaches us not only about the crimes, but also about the responsibility of every individual in society to stand up for peaceful coexistence.

For more information about the events please click here link.