Vrbové Synagogue

Vrbové Synagogue
The façade of the former synagogue in 2008
Religion
AffiliationJudaism (former)
RiteNusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
Status
  • Abandoned (as a synagogue);
  • Repurposed
Location
LocationBeňovského Street, Vrbové
CountrySlovakia
Vrbové Synagogue is located in Slovakia
Vrbové Synagogue
Location of the former synagogue in Slovakia
Geographic coordinates48°37′15″N 17°43′32″E / 48.62083°N 17.72542°E / 48.62083; 17.72542
Architecture
Architect(s)Grätzel and Kittler
TypeSynagogue architecture
Style
Groundbreaking1882
Completed1883
Specifications
Dome(s)One
MaterialsBrick
[1]

The Vrbové Synagogue is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Beňovského Street in Vrbové, Slovakia. The synagogue was erected in 1883 and is a protected cultural monument. The synagogue building was bought in 1947 by Dezider Hačko, a local businessman, and assumed by the state in the following year. Subsequently restored, the building has served as a cultural center since 2016.[2]

History

A Jewish community in Vrbové is known since at least 1522. At the 1880 census the 1303 Jews comprised 28% of the town's population.

The present building of the former synagogue was erected in 1883 at Beňovského Street, the main street of the town.

In the late 1980s the town's authority started the restoration with the aim to use the building for cultural purposes, and two facades were given a respectable appearance. But after the political changes of 1989 half of the property was given back to Hačko who owned the building shortly after World War II and the work stopped. Local government authorities acquired the building and completed restorations in 2016.[2]

Architecture

The synagogue has a three-partite front in the Moorish Revival style and is decorated with horizontal red-yellow stripes, octagonal stars and slim minaretes. The door and windows are built in the Rundbogenstil. On top of the central part between two of the minarets are the Tablets of Law.

The architect was Grätzel and Kittler, an architectural firm from Bratislava.[2][3]

The interior is only partially preserved; the women's gallery, supported by cast-iron columns, is without railings and the furnishing has disappeared. The ceiling is covered by lively geometric and floral motifs.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Synagogue in Vrbové". Historic synagogues of Europe. Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. n.d. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Slovakia: A new roof on the Moorish style former synagogue in Vrbové signals renewed restoration efforts". Jewish Heritage Europe. June 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  3. ^ "Új tetővel büszkélkedhet egy szlovákiai zsinagóga" [A synagogue in Slovakia can boast of a new roof]. Pinchasz (in Slovak). July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  4. ^ Borský, Maroš (2005). Synagogue Architecture in Slovakia Towards Creating a Memorial Landscape of Lost Community (PDF). Dissertation an der Hochschule für Jüdische Studien (PhD thesis). Heidelberg, Germany. pp. 15, 27, 140. Retrieved April 21, 2020.

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