The synagogue was built between 1873 and 1877 on the then still sparsely built-up east side of the southern Allee, beyond the original city limits of Heilbronn.

[7] On July 19, 1928, the Heilbronn municipal council decided to take ownership of the private connecting path between Allee and Friedensstraße, which ran south of the synagogue, and to widen it.

The corresponding extension to the west was designed in the middle as a low entrance hall for the men, supported by several columns standing one behind the other,[1]: 2:192  from which three doors led into the interior.

Wide cornices in the Neoclassical style, which separated the lower and upper floors, and Gothicized windows also softened the oriental impression.[10]: 336f.

[3]: 75  The galleries above the side aisles, which could be reached by the staircases next to the entrance hall, were intended for women (as the sexes are separated in Jewish places of worship);[15] there were 33 benches here.

[3]: 75  The dome itself was supported on the inside by strong pilasters,[1]: 192  which were decorated with bundled half-columns[3]: 75  at the height of the galleries and placed in front of the pillar in the form of services.

A vaulted, polygonal[1]: 2:192  (five-part) choir with a Gothic appearance formed the south-eastern end of the building behind a high horseshoe arch.

The instrument came from the workshop of the Heilbronn organ builder Johann Heinrich Schäfer; it had 28 stops, spread over 2 manuals and pedal.

[19] The costs for the new synagogue amounted to a total of 372,778 marks, of which the municipality of Heilbronn provided 30,000 guilders (51,428 Reichsmark) in 1876 in the form of a loan from the foundation's funds.

The foundation stone was laid in mid-August 1873, on November 23, 1874, it was possible to celebrate the topping-out of the building, and at the end of May 1877 the construction was completed.

A midday banquet in the Rose restaurant with many representatives of official bodies and an evening ball in the Harmonie festival hall concluded the celebration.

The order to carry out anti-Jewish riots following the assassination attempt on a German embassy employee in Paris seems to have reached the Heilbronn NSDAP by telephone at 11:30 p.m., probably via several intermediate stages.

[3]: 126  Shortly after seven o'clock, according to the Heilbronner Tagblatt, the dome of the synagogue was also burning outside, which is confirmed by a photograph[6][21]: fig.

[21]: 300  Another photograph[6] shows the synagogue with a burnt-out dome and numerous bystanders and can be dated to 8:42 a.m. thanks to the clock on the post office shown in the picture.

[21]: 300  The newspaper article writes that "it proved impossible for the firefighters to enter the synagogue, which was filled with smoke and fumes", "even with gas masks".

[l] The commander of the Heilbronn fire department was still put on trial in 1939 in the synagogue arson case, but was acquitted on October 2, 1939, for lack of evidence.

[21]: 311 [23] The completely burnt-out ruins of the synagogue remained standing until mid-January 1940, when the company Koch & Mayer began demolition work on behalf of the city administration.

"Out of respect for the former site of the synagogue", Stern deliberately built the Scalalichtspiele cinema, which opened on November 27, 1949, on the rear part of the property on Gymnasiumstraße.

[14][25]: 273, 333 Two years later, on November 22, 1951, the Gaildorf factory owner Wilhelm Bott took over the Scala-Lichtspieltheater (renamed the Metropol-Lichtspieltheater on May 1, 1952[26]: 26 ) and the synagogue property at a forced auction.

[25]: 548  On June 21, 1952, the Hillebrecht opened a fast food restaurant and a restaurant-concert garden with dancing on the front part of the synagogue grounds on Allee.

[15][26]: 373  In 1989/1990, the Bott film theatre companies sold the property to the neighbouring publisher of the Heilbronner Stimme, which leased the cinemas.

This failed due to the high conversion costs that would have been caused by security regulations for Jewish institutions in Germany, so that other premises were rented.

Even decades later, "all investigations met with stubborn silence" or led "at most to cryptic hints", so that the name of the actual arsonist could not be determined.

According to Hans Franke (1963), the Torah scrolls and other cult objects, some of which were set with precious stones, were valued at DM 8,000.

[33] The city council's initial ideas included a plaque on the north wall of the Universum cinema to represent the burned synagogue.

Later, a three-metre-high obelisk made of granite with a Star of David was considered, which was to be erected at the post office on the southern side of the crosswalk over the avenue.

Several alternatives were considered, which could be seen in the spring of 1965 in the form of dummies on the central reservation of the southern avenue in front of the Universum cinema, but none of them met with approval.

[36][37] The letters for the inscription on the 60 by 60 centimetre bronze plate were designed by the Heilbronn graphic artist and city councillor Gerhard Binder.

[39] After the end of the construction work in 1980, it was moved to the junction of the Synagogenweg, i.e. in the immediate vicinity of the former synagogue site, and incorporated into the concrete parapet of the post office underpass.

An opening for the Hanukkia was created in the ground in front of the concrete block - surrounded by paving stones - which is otherwise covered by a golden clasp.