The striking, Moorish-style former synagogue in the town of Vrbové, Slovakia, stands in sad disrepair, but there are efforts under way to (slowly) restore the building.
Constructed in 1883, it was designed by the Bratislava architects identified as Grätzel and Kittler, the local historian Ľubomír Bosák told zpiešťan.sk in 2018, when the current efforts to restore the building got under way. It had stood in limbo, in steadily deteriorating condition, for nearly three decades due to ownership issues.
A new roof was completed at the end of 2021, with €90,000 contributed by the Ministry of Culture. (JHE is not aware of what the next step will be.)
The construction company Git Sro posted pictures of the new roof on its Facebook page.
According to local media, the synagogue building was bought by a businessman named Dezider Hačko in 1947. He planned to demolish it. However, it was nationalized by the communist regime in February 1948 — this saved the building, but it was then used as a granary and T-shirt warehouse.
In the late 1980s, the local municipality took it over and initiated a complete restoration for cultural purposes. It refurbished two façades, but work soon halted, following the fall of communism in 1989 and resulting political changes, as one half of the property was returned to the people who had owned the building after World War II.
It was not until 2016 that the municipality could work out an agreement to buy that share of the property and take over complete ownership of the building.
Though dilapidated, the bright orange facade, located on the main street, is very striking.
The interior still conserves vivid painting on the vaulted ceiling.
Slovak synagogue expert Maros Borsky has described the architecture and surviving interior decoration:
The Moorish structure with a tri-partite façade is decorated with typical yellow-red horizontal stripes, octagonal stars and slim minarets. These are accompanied by Rundbogenstil round-arched windows and blind arches. Interior is partially preserved; the women’s gallery, supported by cast-iron columns, is without railing and the other furnishing has disappeared. Most impressive is an elaborate ceiling of saucer domes, shallow vaults and tie bars. The whole ceiling structure is covered by lively geometric and floral decoration motifs.
See a 3-D virtual tour of the synagogue in 2018 — move the image with your mouse or touch pad
2 comments on “Slovakia: A new roof on the Moorish style former synagogue in Vrbové signals renewed restoration efforts”
My grandparents Moshe (Moritz), and Gnendl (Gizella) Weiss settled in Vrbove after the shoah. My grandfather was Cantor and Shochet. My parents and sister perished in Auschwitz, so I was raised by my mother’s parents. in October 1947, at the age of 4+ I recited my first Kaddish for my parents and sister in the Synagogue. In 1948 we moved to Bratislava, a year later we made Aliyah to Israel.
In October of this year, my wife and myself, joined by a group of our grandchildren plan to visit Slovakia including of course the town of Vrbove.
My ggg-grandmother Helena Fahn’s parents (Zsigmond Fahn, Fanni Sommer) were from Verbó.