The neo-Gothic red-brick Ceremonial Hall at the Jewish cemetery in Gliwice, Poland will be restored and turned into a museum of Jewish history in upper Silesia. The large structure was built in 1903 and designed by the Vienna-based Jewish architect Max Fleischer (1841-1905), who designed several synagogues, including three in Vienna (most were destroyed on Kristallnacht) as well as grand tombs in Vienna’s main Jewish cemetery, where he is buried. He also worked on Vienna’s Rathaus, and the Rathaus decoration includes a bust of him.
The Ceremonial Hall long stood derelict, though ideas for its reconstruction have been floated for more than a dozen years.
Gazeta.pl writes that the Gliwice project is the result of an agreement between the city and the Jewish community, which had no money to repair the building. The Gliwice municipality has taken over the building and the Municipal Board of Public Utilities will oversee its restoration and transformation.
The museum exhibition, it reports, will be present in several rooms. Exhibits will include graphics, texts and maps as well as objects and historical information. One room will be devoted to the role of the Jews played in the the development of industry in Upper Silesia.