It was probably in 1956 that plans made by Hamburg's Jewish congregation, re-established in 1945, for building a new synagogue with a community center at Hohe Weide became concrete. In order to find an architect and an appropriate design, the congregation held a competition. The plan presented here is the design submitted by Frankfurt architect Hermann Zvi Guttmann. It shows a perspective drawing of a rotunda on a plinth base. The lower level was probably meant to accommodate the community center while the synagogue itself constitutes a separate building located above it. The facades reflect the fact that the two parts of the building are meant for very different usages: on the lower level, the emphasis is on the entrance that is accessible via several steps, and the facade appears compact despite the inclusion of a horizontal row of windows; the synagogue space is structured by narrow, vertical slats. The windows are placed in between. This creates a structure that appears open and does not specifically emphasize any particular area on the outside. The building is capped by a low dome. Guttmann situated this free-standing building in a parklike setting. In the architect's archives there are other plans that show variations of his design for this competition, among them a drawing that shows a tapered parabola several meters high that rises above a synagogue with an oval floor plan.