Austria: Former Synagogue in St. Pölten to undergo €4 million restoration and redevelopment as a Jewish cultural center

(JHE) — The magnificent domed former synagogue in St. Pölten, west of Vienna, will undergo a €4 million restoration and redevelopment as a Jewish cultural center with financing from the  Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) region and the St. Pölten municipality. According to a press release from the Lower Austria government web site, the new center should open in 2024.

The plan results from an agreement between the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (Vienna Jewish community) as owner and the Lower Austria Museums Holding, an umbrella for several regional museums. The synagogue will form part of the group as an independent institution and be overseen by the Lower Austrian Culture Association (NÖKU), a management holding that brings together twelve subsidiaries with more than 30 artistic and scientific institutions.

“For us it is the only possibility to secure the building, outside and inside,” Martha Keil, the director of the Institute for Jewish History in Austria, which has been housed in the synagogue complex since 1988, told JHE. “It’s really a blessing that such a powerful institution as the Lower Austrian Culture Association will take care of it.”

Keil said that, among other things, repairs will be carried out to safeguard the synagogue from water damage, and to renovate warped doorways. The building will be made accessible for the disabled, with an elevator;  heating will be installed; there will be rooms for workshops and facilities for concerts.  

“The most important thing is now to keep the rain out,” she said “And we are only at the beginning.”

Keil said the contents and programs will be planned in collaboration with the Institute,

and we will elaborate the  basic concept – about the history of the synagogue and its community, about the religious meaning it once had and which is still visible. The [sanctuary] itself will speak. We will invite Jewish artists and others who will get inspiration from this unique room.

Lower Austria Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner called the project “an important signal for the future.”  

We are taking on historical, cultural and architectural responsibility for a unique building and enable the communication and thus the discussion about Jewish culture and Jewish life, in all aspects, including those associated with murder and expulsion.  

The synagogue in St. Pölten was dedicated on August 17, 1913 — the eve of the birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph — the dedication event closed with the Imperial Anthem. It is an imposing building with a central dome and tall arched decoration on the facades, built in a style that has been described as “national romanticism.”

It was designed by the Viennese architect Theodor Schreier — who died in the Nazi ghetto/concentration camp Terezin —  working with his partner Viktor Postelberg (1869-1920). 

Schreier was honored with a commemorative plaque and memorial concert at the synagogue in September 2019.

The synagogue was gutted during Kristallnacht and after World War II  was used as “furniture store, granary and dovecot.” The dome was heavily damaged and some structural components were in danger of collapsing; broken windows let in rain and snow.

Demolition plans in the late 1970s resulted in the Federal Monuments Office putting a preservation order on the building, and it was restored in the 1980s, ahead of the Jewish History Institute moving into its premises. 

The restoration  was aimed at bringing it as close as possible back to its original state, including beautiful detailed stencil decorations on its walls.

 

Read the press release from the Lower Austria regional government

Web site of the Institute for Jewish History in Austria

Read our article about the Schreier commemoration

Read a history of the synagogue (in English)

Institute for Jewish History in Austria web site

Read a lengthy article by Samuel Gruber about the synagogue and its history

Read a lengthy history of the synagogue and its architects Schreier and Postelberg (in German)

 

 

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