Maribor Synagogue
Encyclopedia
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...
and current museum in the city of Maribor
Maribor
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. Located in what was the center of the medieval Maribor ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
at 4 Židovska ulica ("Jewish Street"), it is one of the oldest preserved synagogues in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and one of two only left in Slovenia. It once functioned as the centre of the medieval Jewish community in Maribor, among the most prominent in the Eastern Alps-area.
History
First mentioned in 1429, the synagogue is thought to have been built sometime in the 14th century. Located next to the city walls, it was part of a complex that included a Jewish cemeteryJewish cemetery
A Jewish cemetery is a cemetery where members of the Jewish faith are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition....
, rabbinical residence, and Talmudic school
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
. A fortified tower nearby - part of the walls themselves - was known as the Židovski stolp ("Jewish Tower"), while a building housing ritual baths
Mikvah
Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...
stood outside the walls on the Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
riverbank.
At points throughout its history, the synagogue served as a temporary seat of the Supreme Rabbinate of Styria. In 1497, the Jews of Maribor were expelled, scattering all over Europe, especially Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. After the expulsion, the synagogue was in 1501 turned into a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
church, the Church of All Saints . The former rabbi's residence to the west of the main building became a curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
office, while another, smaller building on the eastern side housed the sexton
Sexton
Sexton may refer to:*Sexton , a self-propelled artillery vehicle of World War II*Sexton , a church or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of the church buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard; and ringing of the church bells...
.
In 1785, during the anticlerical reforms of Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, the church was confiscated, deconsecrated, and converted into a military warehouse. It served in this capacity until 1811, when it was sold to private owners for use as an apartment house, which it remained until the 1980s, when the municipality of Maribor renovated it for use as an art gallery. In 2001 the building was converted into a museum and cultural-exhibition venue, administered by the Regional Museum of Maribor. It houses a display on the history of the Jewish community of Maribor.
In January 2009, during the Gaza War, the exterior of the synagogue was defaced with antisemitic graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
, including "Juden raus" and "Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
."
See also
- History of the Jews in SloveniaHistory of the Jews in SloveniaThe small Jewish community of Slovenia is estimated at 400 to 600 members , with most living in the capital, Ljubljana. The Jewish community was devastated by the Shoah, and has never fully recovered...
- Ljubljana Synagogue
- Ptuj Synagogue
- Murska Sobota Synagogue
- Lendava SynagogueLendava SynagogueThe Lendava Synagogue constitute the most important Jewish monuments in Slovenia along with those in Maribor, Ptuj, Ljubljana and Nova Gorica. The former synagogue and current museum is located in a small town Lendava, Slovenia, close to the Hungarian border dominated by a hilltop castle...