Dohány Street Synagogue
Encyclopedia
The Great Synagogue, also known as Dohány Street Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is located in Erzsébetváros
, the 7th district of Budapest
. It is the third largest synagogue
in Eurasia
and the fifth largest in the world. It seats 3,000 people and is a centre of Neolog Judaism.
The synagogue is 75m long and 27m wide, and was built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish Revival
style, with the decoration based chiefly on Islamic models from North Africa
and medieval Spain
(the Alhambra
). The synagogue's Viennese architect, Christian Friedrich Ludwig Förster
, believed that no distinctively Jewish architecture could be identified, and thus chose "architectural forms that have been used by oriental ethnic groups that are related to the Israelite people, and in particular the Arabs." The interior design is partly by Frigyes Feszl
.
Theodore Herzl's house of birth was next to the Dohány street Synagogue. In the place of his house stands the Jewish Museum, which holds the Jewish Religious and Historical Collection, built in 1930 in accordance with the synagogue's architectural style and attached in 1931 to the main building.
Dohány Street itself, a leafy street in the city center, carries strong Holocaust connotations as it constituted the border of the Budapest Ghetto
.
Jewish community of Pest according to the plans of Ludwig Förster
, the monumental synagogue has a capacity of 2,964 seats (1,492 for men and 1,472 in the women's galleries) making it the largest in Europe and the second largest working synagogue in the World. The consecration of the synagogue took place on September 6, 1859.
The original synagogue was bombed by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party
on 3 February 1939. Used as a base for German Radio and also as a stable during World War II
, the building suffered some severe damage from aerial raids during the Nazi Occupation but especially during the Siege of Budapest. During the Communist era the damaged structure became again a prayer house for the much-diminished Jewish community. Its restoration started in 1991 and ended in 1998. The restoration was financed by the state and by private donations.
The synagogue was originally built in a residential area. The house in which Theodor Herzl
was born once stood on a site that is now part of the synagogue compound. The Dohány Street Synagogue complex consists of the Great Synagogue, the Jewish Museum, the Heroes' Temple, the graveyard and the Holocaust memorial.
and the High Holidays and a Holocaust room.
.
Emlékpark (memory park) in the rear courtyard holds the Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs — at least 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Nazis. Made by Imre Varga, it resembles a weeping willow whose leaves bear inscriptions with the names of victims. There is also a memorial to Wallenberg and other Righteous Among the Nations
, among them: Swiss Vice-consul Carl Lutz
; Giorgio Perlasca
, an Italian man who, with a strategic escamotage, declared himself the Spanish consul, releasing documents of protection and current passports to Jews in Budapest without distinction (he saved five thousand); Mons. Angelo Rotta
, an Italian Prelate Bishop and Apostolic Nuncio of the State of Vatican City in Budapest, which issued protective sheets, misrepresentations of baptism (to save them from forced labor) and Vatican passports to Jews, without distinction of any kind present in Budapest (saving fifteen thousand), who saved, with his secretary Mons. Gennaro Verolino tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II.
s, the building consists of three spacious richly decorated aisles, two balconies and, unusually, an organ. Its ark contains various torah scrolls taken from other synagogues destroyed during the Holocaust.
The torah
-ark and the internal frescoes made of colored and golden geometric shapes are the works of the famous Hungarian romantic architect Frigyes Feszl
. A single-span cast iron supports the 12-m wide nave. The seats on the ground-floor are for men, while the upper gallery, supported by steel ornamented poles, has seats for women.
Franz Liszt
and Camille Saint-Saëns
played the original 5,000 pipe organ
built in 1859. A new mechanical organ with 63 voices and 4 manuals was built in 1996 by the German firm Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden GmbH.
) was completed in 1996.
Erzsébetváros
----Erzsébetváros is the 7th district of Budapest, situated on the Pest side of the Danube. The inner half of the district was the historic Jewish quarter of Pest. The Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest functioning synagogue in Europe, is located in this district. Currently it is the most...
, the 7th district of Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. It is the third largest synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
and the fifth largest in the world. It seats 3,000 people and is a centre of Neolog Judaism.
The synagogue is 75m long and 27m wide, and was built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental...
style, with the decoration based chiefly on Islamic models from North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and medieval Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(the Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
). The synagogue's Viennese architect, Christian Friedrich Ludwig Förster
Ludwig Förster
Ludwig Christian Friedrich Förster was a German-born Austrian architect.Ludwig Förster studied in Munich and Vienna. He founded the Allgemeine Bauzeitung in 1836...
, believed that no distinctively Jewish architecture could be identified, and thus chose "architectural forms that have been used by oriental ethnic groups that are related to the Israelite people, and in particular the Arabs." The interior design is partly by Frigyes Feszl
Frigyes Feszl
Frigyes Feszl was an architect and a significant figure in the Hungarian romantic movement.-Life:Born into a family of German origin, Feszl's father was a master wood carver...
.
Theodore Herzl's house of birth was next to the Dohány street Synagogue. In the place of his house stands the Jewish Museum, which holds the Jewish Religious and Historical Collection, built in 1930 in accordance with the synagogue's architectural style and attached in 1931 to the main building.
Dohány Street itself, a leafy street in the city center, carries strong Holocaust connotations as it constituted the border of the Budapest Ghetto
Budapest ghetto
The Budapest Ghetto was a ghetto where Jews were forced to live in Budapest, Hungary during the Second World War.- History :The area consisted of several blocks of the old Jewish quarter of the city surrounding the main synagogue, and was surrounded by a high fence and stone wall that was guarded...
.
History
Built between 1854-1859 by the NeologNeolog
Neolog Judaism is a mild reform movement within Judaism, mainly in Hungarian-speaking regions of Europe, which began as a result of the Hungarian Jewish Congress, convened on December 14, 1868. The reforms were comparable to the more traditional wing of U.S. Conservative Judaism...
Jewish community of Pest according to the plans of Ludwig Förster
Ludwig Förster
Ludwig Christian Friedrich Förster was a German-born Austrian architect.Ludwig Förster studied in Munich and Vienna. He founded the Allgemeine Bauzeitung in 1836...
, the monumental synagogue has a capacity of 2,964 seats (1,492 for men and 1,472 in the women's galleries) making it the largest in Europe and the second largest working synagogue in the World. The consecration of the synagogue took place on September 6, 1859.
The original synagogue was bombed by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party
Arrow Cross Party
The Arrow Cross Party was a national socialist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which led in Hungary a government known as the Government of National Unity from October 15, 1944 to 28 March 1945...
on 3 February 1939. Used as a base for German Radio and also as a stable during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the building suffered some severe damage from aerial raids during the Nazi Occupation but especially during the Siege of Budapest. During the Communist era the damaged structure became again a prayer house for the much-diminished Jewish community. Its restoration started in 1991 and ended in 1998. The restoration was financed by the state and by private donations.
Exterior
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
was born once stood on a site that is now part of the synagogue compound. The Dohány Street Synagogue complex consists of the Great Synagogue, the Jewish Museum, the Heroes' Temple, the graveyard and the Holocaust memorial.
Great Synagogue
The building has a length of more than 53 meters while its width has 26.5 meters. The style of the Dohány Street Synagogue is Moorish but its design also features a mixture of Byzantine, Romantic and Gothic elements. Two onion-shaped domes sit on the twin octogonal towers at 43 m height. A rose stained-glass window sits over the main entrance.Jewish Museum
The Jewish Museum was constructed on the plot where Theodor Herzl's two-story Classicist style house used to stand, adjoining the Dohany synagogue. The Jewish Museum constructed between 1930-1931 holds collection of religious relics of the Pest Hevrah Kaddishah (Jewish Burial Society), ritual objects of ShabbatShabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and the High Holidays and a Holocaust room.
Heroes' Temple
The arcade and the Heroes' Temple, which seats 250 people and is used for religious services on weekdays and during the winter time, was added the Dohány Street Synagogue complex in 1931. The Heroes' Temple designed by Lázlo Vágó and Ferenc Faragó, serves as a memorial to Hungarian Jews who gave their lives during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Jewish Cemetery
The cemetery is located in the back yard of the Heroes' Temple, enclosed by the Jewish Museum and the Dohany synagogue. According to the Jewish traditions cemeteries can not be on the premises of the house of prayer. This graveyard is the result of tragic historical events during World War II. In 1944, the Dohány Street Synagogue was part of the Jewish Ghetto for the city Jews and served as shelter for a lot of people. Over two thousand of those who died in the ghetto from hunger and cold during the winter 1944-1945 are buried in the courtyard of the synagogue.Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park
The Raoul WallenbergRaoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
Emlékpark (memory park) in the rear courtyard holds the Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs — at least 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Nazis. Made by Imre Varga, it resembles a weeping willow whose leaves bear inscriptions with the names of victims. There is also a memorial to Wallenberg and other Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
, among them: Swiss Vice-consul Carl Lutz
Carl Lutz
Carl Lutz was the Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest, Hungary from 1942 until the end of World War II. He helped save tens of thousands of Jews from deportation to Nazi Extermination camps during the Holocaust. He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews...
; Giorgio Perlasca
Giorgio Perlasca
Giorgio Perlasca was an Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
, an Italian man who, with a strategic escamotage, declared himself the Spanish consul, releasing documents of protection and current passports to Jews in Budapest without distinction (he saved five thousand); Mons. Angelo Rotta
Angelo Rotta
Angelo Rotta , originally from Milan, Italy, was the Apostolic Nuncio in Budapest at the end of World War II.During his previous diplomatic activity in Bulgaria, he already saved many Bulgarian Jews by issuing them baptismal certificates and safe conducts for the trip to Palestine.In 1944 - 1945 he...
, an Italian Prelate Bishop and Apostolic Nuncio of the State of Vatican City in Budapest, which issued protective sheets, misrepresentations of baptism (to save them from forced labor) and Vatican passports to Jews, without distinction of any kind present in Budapest (saving fifteen thousand), who saved, with his secretary Mons. Gennaro Verolino tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II.
Interior
Similarly to basilicaBasilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
s, the building consists of three spacious richly decorated aisles, two balconies and, unusually, an organ. Its ark contains various torah scrolls taken from other synagogues destroyed during the Holocaust.
The torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
-ark and the internal frescoes made of colored and golden geometric shapes are the works of the famous Hungarian romantic architect Frigyes Feszl
Frigyes Feszl
Frigyes Feszl was an architect and a significant figure in the Hungarian romantic movement.-Life:Born into a family of German origin, Feszl's father was a master wood carver...
. A single-span cast iron supports the 12-m wide nave. The seats on the ground-floor are for men, while the upper gallery, supported by steel ornamented poles, has seats for women.
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
and Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
played the original 5,000 pipe organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
built in 1859. A new mechanical organ with 63 voices and 4 manuals was built in 1996 by the German firm Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden GmbH.
Renovation
It was only in the 1990s, following the return to democracy in Hungary, that renovations could begin. A three-year program of reconstruction (funded largely by a US$ 5 million donation from Hungarian Jewish immigrant Estée LauderEstée Lauder (person)
Estée Lauder was an American businesswoman who was the co-founder, along with her husband Joseph Lauder, of Estée Lauder Companies, a pioneering cosmetics company. Lauder was the only woman on TIME magazine's 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century. She was the...
) was completed in 1996.