Great Synagogue, Plzen

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Great Synagogue, Plzen

The Great Synagogue in Plzen (Pilsen), Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east....
is the second largest synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
in Europe.

A Viennese

Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
architect

Architect

An architect is trained and licenced in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e....
called Fleischer drew up the original plans for the synagogue in Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style with granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
buttresses and twin 65-meter towers. The cornerstone was laid on December 2, 1888 and that was about as far as it got. City councillors rejected the plan in a clear case of tower envy as they felt that the grand erection would compete with the nearby Cathedral of St. Bartholomew

Cathedral of St. Bartholomew (Plzen)

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Encyclopedia

The Great Synagogue in Plzen (Pilsen), Czech Republic

Czech Republic

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
in Europe.

A Viennese

Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
architect

Architect

Gothic architecture

Granite

Cathedral of St. Bartholomew (Plzen)

The Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew dominates the centre of the main square in Pilsen in the Czech Republic.The construction of the Gothic style building, located on the Main Square of Plzen, started in 1295 and was finished by the beginning of 16th century....
. Emmanuel Klotz put forward a new design in 1890 retaining the original ground plan and hence the cornerstone, but lowering the towers by 20m and creating the distinctive look combining Romantic and neo-Renaissance

Neo-Renaissance

"Neo-Renaissance" is an all-encompassing style designation that covers many aspects of 19th century Revivalism which were neither Grecian nor Gothic but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes....
styles covered with Oriental

Oriental

Oriental means generally "eastern". It is a traditional designation for anything belonging to the Eastern world or "East" , and especially of its Eastern culture to include the peoples....
decorations and a giant Star of David

Star of David

The Star of David or Shield of David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.It is named after King David of History of ancient Israel and Judah; and its earliest known communal usage began in the Middle Ages, alongside the more ancient symbol of the Menorah ....
. The design was quickly approved and master builder Rudolf Štech completed work in 1893 for the bargain price of 162,138 guilders

Austro-Hungarian gulden

The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austria-Hungary between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Austro-Hungarian krone as part of the introduction of the gold standard....
. At the time the Jewish community in Plzen numbered some 2,000. The mixture of styles is truly bewildering; from the onion domes of a Russian orthodox church, to the Islamic style ceiling, to the distinctly Indian looking Aron kodesh. The synagogue was used without interruption until the Nazi occupation of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, and the Jewish community that retook possession of the synagogue at the end of hostilities had been decimated by the Holocaust. The last regular service was held in 1973, and then the synagogue was closed down and allowed to fall into disrepair under communist rule. Restoration was undertaken from 1995-98, and the synagogue was reopened on February 11, 1998 at a cost of 63 million Kc

Czech koruna

The Czech koruna has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 8 February 1993 when, together with Slovak koruna, it replaced the Czechoslovak koruna at par....
. The building is now put to good use with the central hall used for concerts from such legends as Joseph Malowany, Peter Dvorský, or Karel Gott, while the walls play host to temporary photographic exhibitions of various worthy-causes. The synagogue is still used for worship, but only in what was formerly the winter prayer room. The present number of Pilsner Jews is a little over seventy.

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External links

(in Czech)
(in Czech)