Happy Birthday(s) Synagogues!
This year a number of synagogue buildings have celebrated or will celebrate a significant anniversary of their dedication with public ceremonies, lectures, and talks — in-person or online, and with guided tours, temporary exhibitions, concerts, and also, in some cases, with renovations or other construction work. The anniversaries range from 50 to 200 years.
Below is a selection of anniversaries and brief summaries of ceremonies and other events that took place or will take place in 2021. We have also included two synagogue anniversaries that took place outside our geographical focus. And we have provided links to find further details.
We may have missed a few — if you know of an anniversary that should be on the list, let us know
CROATIA
VARAŽDIN – 160
Designed by architects Valent Morandini and Ludwig Deutsch, the city’s synagogue was dedicated in 1861, marking this August 16 its 160th anniversary. The original synagogue had a tripartite facade with an arched central section, two squat side towers topped by bulbous domes, and arched portals and windows.
The facade was completely rebuilt after World War II in modernist style, with the central section featuring a large vertical window made of glass bricks; the building had long been used as a cinema but has stood vacant for years.
In 2019, an ambitious project, partially funded by the Culture Ministry, began to reconstruct the original facade of the former synagogue. The project also includes converting the building into a cultural center.
The latest pictures show that the work on the façade is almost completed, and for the synagogue’s 160th birthday, August 16, the city spotlight the new-old façade with the number “160”.
“The Varaždin synagogue is actually a monument to life, death, success, suffering, faith and hope, and we are proud that by installing lighting on this very day, it will shine in full splendor,” Deputy Mayor Miroslav Markovic said in an article posted on the city’s web site.
He said works on the building will continue, and that part of the new cultural center will be dedicated to an exhibition on local Jewish history, including the Shoah.
Click here to read the article on the municipality’s web site
Click here to see photos of the illumination
Click here to read our article about the restoration
FRANCE
HAGUENAU — 200
This year the synagogue of Haguenau, a city in the historic Alsace region, celebrates its 200th anniversary. Inaugurated in 1821, the synagogue was designed by an architect known as Léopold in neo-classic style, typical of the period. Severely damaged during WWII, the synagogue was re-inaugurated in 1959 after a full-scale restoration.
Haguenau is home of one of the oldest Jewish communities of Alsace. In fact, inside the synagogue there are two stones with Hebrew inscriptions coming from former synagogues dating back to 1492 and 1683.
For the anniversary, several events were scheduled. They included a series of guided tours to the synagogue organized by the local Tourism Office, a day-long public conference about local Jewish community history October 3.
Click here to see the details about the October 3 conference
GERMANY
KARLSRUHE — 50
In July the city’s synagogue celebrated its 50th anniversary with a public ceremony that saw the participation of both religious and civil authorities, including members of the federal and state parliament, local councilors, the federal prosecutor, and the Baden-Württemberg Minister of Education.
Located on the border with France, Karlsruhe had two synagogues before WWII, both torched by the Nazis on Kristallnacht, in November 1938.
The new synagogue, designed by Hermann Backhaus and Harro Wolf Brosinsky, was inaugurated in 1971 and was the first synagogue built in the Baden-Württemberg land after the Holocaust. The synagogue has a hexagonal floor plan, and the roof is shaped like the Star of David.
Click here to see a photo gallery of the 1971 dedication ceremony
Click here to see more details about the anniversary event
MUNICH — 90
Designed by the architect Gustav Meyerstein, the Reichenbachstrasse synagogue, which stands in a courtyard hidden from the street, was built in modernist Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) style in 1931 — just two years before Hitler came to power. Severely damaged on Reichspogromnacht (Kristallnacht) in 1938 and further damaged by bombing during World War II, it was restored and reopened in 1947 and served for decades as the main synagogue used by the Munich Jewish community.
It was closed in 2006 with the inauguration of the modern Ohel Jakob synagogue on Sankt-Jakobs-Platz, part of a Jewish complex that includes a JCC and the Munich Jewish Museum.
In 2013 an initiative to renovate the synagogue started, and the association “Synagoge Reichenbachstraße eV” was founded with the aim of restoring the synagogue to its original state. The restoration is now under way, with millions of euros in funding from the Federal Republic of Germany, the Free State of Bavaria, and the City of Munich, as well as private donations.
From October 13th, the 90th anniversary of the synagogue’s dedication will be celebrated with on-site guided tours at the synagogue (which is under renovation), and at a temporary exhibition about its history, curated by the State Ministry for Education and Culture and the Jewish Museum in Munich. Entrance to the exhibition is free, but reservation is compulsory.
Click here to find more about the event
Read our article about the restoration project
HUNGARY
GYŐR — 150
Győr is an important trade crossroad in northwestern Hungary, and the sixth most populated city in the country. Jews have lived in Győr since the 15th century, and today a small Jewish community is still active.
Designed by the Hungarian architect Károly Benkő, the grand domed late historicist style Neolog synagogue was inaugurated in 1870. In 1968, the local Jewish community sold the synagogue to the state, and since 1993 it has been owned by the municipality, which renovated the building in the early 2000s.
Today the synagogue serves as a concert hall and an art exhibition center, and also hosts a permanent exhibition of paintings from the private collection of János Vasilescu, a Romanian diplomat and art collector.
The ceremony for the 150th anniversary of the dedication of the synagogue was to take place last year, but due to the COVID restrictions, the public ceremony could only take place this past August.
The ceremony saw the participation of both civil and religious authorities, including the city’s Rabbi, the Jewish community president, the deputy mayor, the rector of the István Széchenyi University, and an MP. It concluded with a concert of traditional Jewish songs.
Click here to check more details about the event
NAGYKANIZSA — 200
Located in southwest Hungary near the border with Croatia, Nagykanizsa has been home of a Jewish community since the 18th century, although today only a few dozen Jews live there.
Dedicated in 1821, the grand neoclassic synagogue, now owned by the municipality, stands in a dilapidated state, and discussions about possible plans to save it have been underway for several years. Some partial reparation work was carried out on the building in 2010, and it hosts an exhibition about the city’s Jewish past, curated by the Foundation for the Synagogue of Kanizsa.
In late August, a ceremony to celebrate the synagogue’s 200th anniversary saw the participation of Jewish and civil authorities, including Mayor László Balogh; local Jewish community president István Székely; András Heisler, President of the MAZSIHISZ (the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities); Budapest-based Rabbi Zoltán Radnóti; and former mayor Péter Cseresnyés, who currently heads the State Secretariat for Trade Policy and Consumer Protection.
During the ceremony, Heisler recalled that many synagogues in Hungary, such as Budapest’s Rumbach street synagogue, have been recently saved thanks to state funds, and that it is fundamental to do everything possible to also save Nagykanizsa’s synagogue. The ceremony ended with a concert of traditional Jewish music.
Click here to find more details
See a TV video about the anniversary and the synagogue
ÓBUDA — 200
Consecrated in July 1821, the neoclassical Óbuda synagogue, designed by Andreas von Landherr, is the oldest functioning synagogue in Budapest and stands a few steps away from the Danube River on the Buda side, north of the city center.
After WW2 it was long used as a studios center for Hungarian television. In 2010, the EMIH Jewish community (affiliated to Chabad) obtained ownership of the building and rededicated it as a synagogue. EMIH carried out a full-scale restoration completed in 2016.
In early September the 200th anniversary of the synagogue’s original dedication was celebrated with a public ceremony that included speeches by religious authorities, and with a theatre performance about the prominent Hungarian Rabbi Moses Münz (1750-1831). The play won a competition launched earlier this year by EMIH to celebrate the synagogue’s anniversary. Also, to mark the anniversary, a Hebrew-letter clock was installed in the center of the synagogue tympanum.
Click here to see more details
NORWAY
OSLO — 100
The former synagogue on Calmeyers Street celebrated its 100th anniversary in September.
The building served as a synagogue for only 21 years, from 1921 to 1942, and was mainly used by Jewish immigrants from Eastern European countries. After the Holocaust, as the Jewish community was significantly smaller, only the synagogue on Bergstien street continued to work, while the Calmeyers synagogue was shut down.
In 1981, the Jewish community sold the building and it served other purposes, including a veterinarian office, a Kurdish cultural center, and a Koranic school.
Since 2005, the ground floor of the building has hosted the city’s Jewish Museum, while the basement houses the museum’s archives, library, and offices. The other parts of the building serve as a cultural venue.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the synagogue’s dedication, and within the context of the European Days of Jewish Culture, the Jewish Museum organized a talk on September 5 about the history of the synagogue with the museum’s first director, Sidsel Levin, and architect Lior Hobashi.
Watch a video of the event at the Oslo Jewish Museum
ROMANIA
PITEŞTI — (more or less) 100
The tiny local Jewish community and a local cultural association organized a concert to mark the (more or less) centennial of the synagogue in Piteşti. The symphonic and vocal concert was held in the synagogue on September 9, just after Rosh Hashana, and it also was also an occasion to celebrate the Jewish New Year.
During the event, Silviu Vexler, the president of the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities FEDROM, honored the 82-year-old president of the local Jewish community, Aurel Davidovici, for his 20 years of activity for the city’s Jews.
The synagogue, which is listed as a historical monument, is an imposing building on a central square. It was built between 1920 and 1924 in a Romanian national romantic style with elements of art deco and Moorish features. The Center for Jewish Art writes that it “looks simultaneously as modern and as anchored in Romanian history”.
Only a few Jewish families live in Piteşti. The synagogue is usually closed and needs repair, and another reason for the concert, organizers said, was to draw attention to the building as a local attraction and highlight it as a space for cultural events.
Click here to see some pictures of the event on Facebook
TÂRGU MUREȘ — 120
Known in Hungarian as Marosvásárhely, Târgu Mures is the capital of the Mures district, in the Transylvania historical region.
A public ceremony took place September 23 at the city’s ornate domed Status Quo Ante synagogue, to celebrate the 120th anniversary of its dedication. Designed by Viennese Jewish architect Jakob Gartner, the synagogue was inaugurated in 1900, but the 120th anniversary celebration was postponed until this year because of the pandemic.
The ceremony was attended by religious and civil authorities, from inside and outside the city’s county. At the end of the ceremony, they could visit the Museum of the Jewish Community in Mures, opened in the synagogue complex in 2018.
The synagogue today represents one of the most important heritage sites in the city, and it is home of the city’s small Jewish community.
Renovation work funded by the Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania and various private donors was carried out in 1998-2000.
Click here to find details of the ceremony in local media
RUSSIA
TOMSK — 100
Although the Choral Synagogue in the Siberian city of Tomsk was officially inaugurated in September 1902, the Jewish community celebrated its 120th anniversary this year. The anniversary was marked by the inauguration of a major new Jewish Children’s Cultural and Educational center, which was built next to the synagogue building.
The Center’s inauguration ceremony took place on September 12 and saw the participation of both civil and religious authorities. The Center covers an area of 2,400 square meters, and around 250 children, both Jewish and non-Jewish, will be able to enroll in its programs.
The local Jewish community also launched a two-minute-long animated video about the history of the synagogue, which was confiscated by Soviet authorities in 1929 and restituted to the Jewish community in 1999. Over the 70 years of state ownership, the synagogue was used as a cinema, a school, and a courthouse.
Watch the video about the synagogue
Watch a video of the inauguration of the new Jewish Education Center
UNITED KINGDOM
BRISTOL — 150
The city’s Grade II listed Orthodox synagogue, the only purpose-built synagogue in Bristol, marks its 150thanniversary this year – and got a facelift leading up to the anniversary.
Designed by H.H. Collins and S.C. Fripp in Italianate style, the synagogue was built in 1871. Located in Park Row, and is home of the city’s oldest Jewish community, the Bristol Hebrew Congregation.
Thanks to donations from private benefactors and a grant from the Jewish burial society, the community was able to restore the building for the occasion of its anniversary.
An anniversary ceremony was set for early October — also to celebrate the reopening of the building after the renovations, with guests to include Bristol’s mayor and Jewish leaders.
Read about the restoration and anniversary on the congregation’s web site
Click here to read more details in the Jewish Chronicle https://www.thejc.com/community/community-news/bristol-shul-gets-a-facelift-in-advance-of-its-150th-1.520350
ELSEWHERE
OGDEN, UTAH. USA — 100
The 100th anniversary of the synagogue in Ogden, Utah, around 65 km north of Salt Lake City, was marked in August and September with a series of celebratory events – and even special T-shirts.
Inaugurated in 1921, the one-story brick synagogue was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It is the oldest continuously operational synagogue in the state and is home to the small but active Brith Sholem Congregation.
The community marked the anniversary with restoration work on the building, including landscaping and repainting. New Torah mantles and new covers for the lectern were fashioned; and a commemorative painting of the building was commissioned. Guided tours and an exhibition highlighting local Jewish history took place, and Ogden’s mayor and city council made a proclamation about the anniversary.
Click here to see more details in local media
Click here to go to the congregation’s website
MEXICO CITY — 80
On September 14, the Nidjei Israel synagogue in Mexico City celebrated its 80th anniversary. Located on Justo Sierra Street, the synagogue was inaugurated in 1941, and served an Orthodox Jewish community comprised of immigrants from Eastern Europe, mainly from Lithuania. In fact, the synagogue’s interior is an almost exact replica of one of the synagogues in Shavel (Šiauliai), Lithuania, torched by the Nazis a few months after the inauguration of the synagogue in Mexico City.
Today, the Nidjei Israel synagogue is used a cultural center. To celebrate the anniversary, the synagogue center’s director, Monica Unikel, made a short live presentation on Instagram about synagogue’s inauguration in 1941.
1 comment on “Happy birthday(s) synagogues! A selection of synagogue buildings in several countries that are marking significant anniversaries this year and a summary of celebratory events”
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