The Synagogues of Europe
PAST AND PRESENT
 Austria

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          EXHIBITION

 
Below you will find a series of postcards that depict various synagogues that currently or once stood in Europe. Most of these photographs have been purchased, taken, or otherwise obtained by those visiting these towns and cities, and they have been subsequently submitted to the Museum to be placed online.  Some of these synagogues might still be extant, i.e. still being used as synagogues, but others lay abandoned and perhaps in a state of disrepair, or are currently being used for other purposes. Some have been restored.

Current town names are used to indicate the location of each synagogue.

The Museum welcomes further submissions, as this exhibition is forever ongoing and evolving. Please include the name of the country, town/city, synagogue (if known), and the month and year the photo was taken.

Please click on the thumbnail photos to see the enlarged versions.
 
 
AUSTRIA    
BADEN, AUSTRIA (2006)
Baden  Synagogue
Grabengasse 14

 The interior of the synagogue was devastated in 1938, but the building itself survived. After World War II, a new Jewish community was formed in Baden, and in 2004 the synagogue was finally restored in 2004, and in 2005, it was used once again used as a synagogue.
 

 
GRAZ, AUSTRIA
Graz Synagogue

"Adolf Hitler was given a warm welcome when he visited in 1938, the year Austria was  annexed by Nazi Germany. The thriving Jewish community was destroyed by the Nazis and their grand synagogue was burnt. A small group of Graz Jews returned despite everything after the war. In 2000, on the anniversary of the Reichskristallnacht,  Graz city council presented the Jewish community with a new synagogue as a gesture of reconciliation."
 

 
KOBERSDORF, AUSTRIA  
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA (after WWII)
Rededication ceremony
 
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA (2006)
Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Salzburg
Lasserstraße 8

 
 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (c. 1900)
Brigittenauer Tempel
Kluckygasse 11

The Brigittenauer Temple (also known as an "association synagogue Kluckygasse") was a "synaogue club" in the 20th Viennese district Brigittenau. The synagogue was built in 1899/1900 according to plans by James Gartner , and it was destroyed in November 1938.

 
 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (bef 1904)
Synagoge
Döbling
Dollinergasse 3

The synagogue Döbling was opened in 1907 in the 19th Döbling district of Vienna. The building in the Dollinergasse 3 (Oberdöbling) was destroyed during the 1938 pogrom night destroyed. In 1995 the building was replaced by a modern housing project.
 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (1900)
Humboldttempel
Humboldtplatz

Built in 1895/1896 based on the plans of architect Jakob Gartner.
Destroyed during the Reichskristallnacht on 10 Nov 1938.


 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (c. 1939)
Jubiläumstempel
Siebenbrunnengasse 1a

The Emperor Franz Joseph's Government Jubilee Temple (short version: Jubiläum temple; also known as Synagogue Siebenbrunnengasse) was associated with the synagogue association Beth Aharon (Aron's house) in the 5th Viennese district Margareten (Siebenbrunnengasse 1a).
 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (1860)
"Juden-Tempel" in der Leopoldstadt
II. District

Also known as the Jewish Prayer in the Vienna suburb,  Leopoldstadt Synagogue or Temple Street was a Jewish synagogue in the 2nd Viennese district Leopoldstadt. From 1854 to 1858, after plans by Ludwig Förster, this synagogue was built with 2000 seats and remained erect in 1938 during the November pogrom, with the exception of the side wings which were completely destroyed.
 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (1883)
Müllnergasse synagogue
Müllnergasse 21, VIII. District

The  Müllnergasse synagogue was a Jewish synagogue in the 9th District of Vienna Alsergrund. It was  built during the years 1888-89 at Müllnergasse 21 (Rossau) according to plans created by Max Fleischer. The synagogue was detroyed during the 1938 pogrom.
 
 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (c. 1903)
Synagoge Neudeggergasse
Neudeggergasse 10-12, VIII. District
 
The synagogue served the Jewish community of the seventh and eighth districts (Neubau and Josefstadt). It was commissioned by Baron Moritz von Königswarter, and the architect was Max Fleischer.

 As in many synagogues, the women sat separate from the men and could watch the proceedings from the balcony on the second floor. The synagogue apparently had excellent acoustics.

The synagogue was destroyed during the Reichskristallnacht  pogroms in 1938, after the Anschluß of Austria to Nazi Germany.
 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA  (c. 1900)
Ottokringer Tempel
Hubergasse 8, XVI. District

This was a synagogue of the Jewish community of Vienna in the 16th Viennese district Ottakring. It was constructed from 1885 to 1886 after plans by architect Ludwig Carpenter and was completely destroyed during the November 1938 pogrom.
 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (1910)
Pazmanitentempel
Pazmanitengasse 6, II. District
 
Also known as the Synagogue in der Leopoldstadt, this large synagogue was located in Vienna's second district. It was designed and constructed by the architect Ignaz Reiser.

The building was destroyed during the Nazi pogroms of the  Reichskristallnacht  pogroms in 1938, after the Anschluß of Austria to Nazi Germany of 1938.
 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Polnische Schul
Leopoldgasse 29, II. District

The shul
was built by the noted architect Wilhelm Stiassny in 1892. It was built specifically for the Polish Jewish community in the late 19th  and destroyed during the Reichskristallnacht in 1938. Today a modern building stands there with a Tafel.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Schiffschul
in Vienna's II. District





 
 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Schmalzhoftempel
Schmalzhofgasse 3, VI. District

The synagogue Schmalzhofgasse, also called Schmalzhoftempel, was a synagogue in Mariahilf district of Vienna. The synagogue was built in 1883/84 according to plans by Max Fleischer in the neo-Gothic style and was destroyed in November 1938.












 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (c. 1900)
Simmeringer Tempel
Braunhubergasse 7, XI. District

This was a synagogue in the Simmering district of Vienna. The synagogue was built in the years 1898 to 1899 according to plans by James Gartner and like so many of the Viennese synagogues, was detroyed during the November 1938 pogrom.


 
 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Stadttempel
Seitenstettengasse 4, I. District
 
The synagogue is the main one in Vienna. It was constructed from 1825 to 1826 by the Viennese architect Joseph Kornhausel in elegant Biedermeier style. The luxurious Stadttempel was fitted into the block of houses and hidden from plain view from the street. This went back to an edict issued by Emperor Joseph II that only Catholic places of worship were allowed to have a direct means of entry from the street. This situation actually saved the synagogue from total destruction during the Reichskristallnacht in November 1938, as the Nazis were afraid that the whole block could go up in flames. The other ninety-three synagogues and Jewish prayer-houses of Vienna were badly damaged or destroyed.

In the 1981 Vienna synagogue attack  two people were murdered and thirty injured when Palestinian Arab terrorists attacked the synagogue with machine guns and hand grenades.

Today the synagogue is the main temple for the Viennese Jewish Community of about 7,000 members.

In August 1949 the coffins of Theodor Herzl and his parents were displayed at the synagogue, prior to their transfer for burial in Israel.

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Storchentempel
XV. District

A memorial plaque has been placed on this building that states that the Storchen Temple stood in this location for more than sixty years before its eventual destruction.

This former synagogue stood in the 15th District of Vienna. It was originally "inter alia", as a school until 1930 and rebuilt into a synagogue. In 1938 the synagogue was devastated.
 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Synagoge im alten AKH Wien

The synagogue in the old Vienna General Hospital is located in "yard 6" of the old AKH (now the campus of the University of Vienna). The "Betpavillon" for the Jewish hospital in Vienna's General Hospitalwas built with donations of the Jewish community of Vienna, according to the plans of Max Fleischer. It was erected 1903.
 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Synagogue at Judenplatz
wooden model

Vienna's small Jewish community built a synagogue in 1240 at today's Judenplatz. In 1421 the synagogue was completely demolished after the expulsion and murder (gesera) of Jews in Vienna ordered by Duke Albert V, who receives great support from the Viennese. A part of the synagogue's stones were used to build the Vienna University. The remains were excavated in 1995-1998.
 

 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Türkischer Tempel

This synagogue
was built specifically for a community of Sephardic Jews who originally came from Turkey. The synagogue was built in a Turkish, almost Islamic style with a dome. The building was destroyed during the Reichskristallnacht in 1938.


 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (c. 1900)
Synagoge Turnergasse
Turnergasse 22, XV. District

The synagogue existed in Turner Alley from 1871 to 1938 in today's 15th District of Vienna Rudolfsheim, house five. The free-standing synagogue, the Jewish community of the district was established from 1871 to 1872.
 

T
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (c. 1892)
Währinger Tempel
XVIII. District

This synagogue, once located in the Währing district of Vienna, was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


Photos  and descriptions adapted from Wikipedia.








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