A former church is being transformed into the first synagogue in the German state of Brandenburg since 1938.

The former “castle church” in Cottbus, Germany was handed from Christian leader Ulrike Menzel to the Jewish Association of the State of Brandenburg.  The facility will be renovated and then dedicated for use on January 27, 2015, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Menzel said during the transfer event that he was pleased to see the house of worship return to its intended use.  The church that had met in the building had disbanded and the facility was used for social events during the last few years.

The synagogue in Cottbus was destroyed on Kristallnacht when Germans nationwide took Jewish property and synagogues.  The site of that former synagogue in Cottbus is now the location of a department store.

The Jewish community formally reestablished in the city in 1998 and lists 350 members who are all former Soviet Union residents that fled for freedom to worship.