Opening of an exhibition (running April 7-June 30, 2022) of objects found in the genizas in former synagogues in eastern Bohemia, with a particular focus on the synagogue in Luze.
The exhibition grows out of a geniza research project initiated by the Prague Jewish Museum in the 1990s.
The official reopening ceremony of the Great synagogue in Plzen, Czech Republic, following a three-year restoration of the synagogue interior and nearby Rabbi’s house. A permanent exhibition on Jewish monuments in the Pilsen region will be opened, in the women’s gallery. It is based on the photographs of Radovan Kodera.
A procession will bring a Torah scroll from the Old to the Great Synagogue and ceremoniously place it in the ark.
Following will be a ceremonial program with speeches by the Culture Minister, the head of the tiny local Jewish community, and others. A concert will feature compositions inspired by Jewish prayers, adapted for the occasion.
Exhibition: Let Them Make Me a Sanctuary! Synagogues of Hungarian Communities
The exhibition introduces the sacral architecture of the Hungarian Jewry by presenting individual synagogue buildings. The authors have selected works spanning nearly a millennium in order to present the characteristics of synagogue architecture, the communities that built them and their history. After the medieval synagogues of Sopron, the baroque synagogues of Mád and the neoclassical synagogues of Óbuda, the synagogues of Pest, the jewels of romantic architecture, will also be presented. These buildings, together with the domed synagogues built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (Győr, Oradea, Szeged, Subotica, Novi Sad), were important milestones in the emancipation of the Jews. The sacral buildings of the Jewish community of Kassa (Kosice), which were built to complement the Slovakian stops in the exhibition, are also shown on separate tables, and are gems of Romantic and 20th century modern architecture.
Visit only on reservation: 32 2 209 0750 / info@bmki.be
The exhibition is a joint project of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and the Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Documentation Centre for Historic Monument Protection.
Curator: dr. Ágnes Ivett Oszkó, art historian, MÉM MDK
Project Manager: Ágnes Komlóssy, Head of the International and Transnational Affairs Department of the MMA
The long-derelict 19th century synagogue in Kőszeg, western Hungary, is reopening to the public after a full-scale renovation that took place over the past two years. The synagogue, which is owned by the state, will become a cultural centre but also will be able to be used for religious services.
JHE’s Ruth Ellen Gruber is on the program of its first public event, Sunday August 28-29 — the opening of an exhibition about Philip (Fülöp) Schey (1798-1881), a Jewish philanthropist born in Kőszeg (known in German as Güns), who had grown rich as a textile merchant and later became a banker for the Hapsburgs. In 1859, Emperor Franz Joseph raised Schey to the Hungarian nobility — he was the first Jew to receive this honor and took the title Philip Schey von Koromla.
The exhibit is called “A Kőszeg Success Story: the Schey Family,” and it presents Philip Schey’s family, life and work: his economic and philanthropic activities, as well as his founding of institutions.
It begins at 3 p.m. and is organized by iAsk — the Institute of Advanced Studies in Kőszeg, which has played a role in the restoration of the building.
The opening is part of a two-day series of events, “Synagogue Week in Kőszeg,” including concerts, lectures, guided tours, and book presentations.
The latest edition of the exhibit Neviditelné Synagogy — Invisible Synagogues, photographs by Štěpán Bartoš. The vernissage is November 23 at 17:00.
Bartoš photographs the blank spaces in the Czech Republic where destroyed synagogues once stood and adds a ghostly silhouette of the destroyed synagogue to the exhibition photos of the places where they once stood.
On the Invisible Synagogues project web site (which is in German and Czech) you can see galleries of his photos, without the added silhouette, arranged according to region. They include sites in big cities, small towns, and tiny villages; there are fields and rural spaces as well as modern buildings, crowded city streets, and even artificial lakes.
Read our November 2021 post about his Invisible Synagogues project.
Dr. Pieter Vlaardingerbroek will present an illustrated talk live from Amsterdam on the architecture and interior of the 1675 Portuguese Synagogue (the Esnoga) in Amsterdam and the synagogue’s direct influence on the architecture of the 1763 Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island.
Pieter Vlaardingerbroek, Ph.D., is a leading expert on Dutch architecture and material culture. He is an architectural historian for the City of Amsterdam, having served in a similar position for the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands. He is an Assistant Professor of Architectural History and Conservation at the University of Utrecht. Professor Vlaardingerbroek is the author of many articles and books and served as editor for the definitive volume on the Portuguese Sephardic synagogue, The Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, published by the City of Amsterdam in 2013.
There is no fee to participate, but reservations are required to receive the Zoom login information.
Opening of an exhibition of photographs by Daniella Grinberg to mark the 200th anniversary of the synagogue in the village of Kővágóörs, near the north shore of Hungary’s Lake Balaton. The exhibit runs until June 30.
Long abandoned and ruined, the synagogue is now under the care of a foundation that purchased the building and is working to restore it for use as both a synagogue and a cultural center. It already hosts cultural events there.
The Synagogue of Káli-valley Foundation (in Hungarian, Káli-medence Zsinagógája Alapítvány) officially acquired the building in October, 2020 after a year and a half of discussions, from a Canadian businessman of Hungarian origin, who had owned the synagogue since 2013.
The latest edition of the exhibit Neviditelné Synagogy — Invisible Synagogues, photographs by Štěpán Bartoš.
Bartoš photographs the blank spaces in the Czech Republic where destroyed synagogues once stood and adds a ghostly silhouette of the destroyed synagogue to the exhibition photos of the places where they once stood.
On the Invisible Synagogues project web site (which is in German and Czech) you can see galleries of his photos, without the added silhouette, arranged according to region. They include sites in big cities, small towns, and tiny villages; there are fields and rural spaces as well as modern buildings, crowded city streets, and even artificial lakes.
Read our November 2021 post about his Invisible Synagogues project.
After many decades, the synagogue and rabbinical house in Žatec will be ceremonially opened. Both monuments have undergone complete reconstruction in recent years and will now serve as a museum and cultural space.
The celebrations will include performances by the Žatec Occasional Choir and the Camerata children’s choir at the ZUŠ in Žatec.
Long empty and in deteriorating condition, the synagogue and rabbi’s house were bought in 2013 by Daniel Černý, who from 2019 oversaw a full-scale renovation of the buildings that was completed in 2022. Most of the €2 million costs of the project were covered with grants from the state and the EU.
The rescue and restoration of the synagogue won the Patrimonium pro futuro Award in the Monument Protection category.
NOTE: The program on March 22 will begin at 5 p.m.
After many decades, the synagogue and rabbinical house in Žatec will be ceremonially opened. Both monuments have undergone complete reconstruction in recent years and will now serve as a museum and cultural space.
The celebrations will include performances by the Žatec Occasional Choir and the Camerata children’s choir at the ZUŠ in Žatec.
Long empty and in deteriorating condition, the synagogue and rabbi’s house were bought in 2013 by Daniel Černý, who from 2019 oversaw a full-scale renovation of the buildings that was completed in 2022. Most of the €2 million costs of the project were covered with grants from the state and the EU.
The rescue and restoration of the synagogue won the Patrimonium pro futuro Award in the Monument Protection category.
NOTE: The program on March 22 will begin at 5 p.m.
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