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Stadttempel

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This article is about Jewish synagogue in Vienna, Austria. For other uses, see Stadttempel (disambiguation). "City Temple" redirects here. For the church in London, see City Temple (London). For other uses, see City Temple (disambiguation).

Stadttempel
Main building of the Jewish community, housing the temple in the Seitenstettengasse 4
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism
RiteNusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational statusSynagogue
Leadership
  • Rabbi Jaron Engelmayer
  • Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister (Emeritus)
StatusActive
Location
LocationSeitenstettengasse 4, Innere Stadt 1st district, Vienna
CountryAustria
Stadttempel is located in AustriaStadttempelLocation of the synagogue in Austria
Geographic coordinates48°12′42″N 16°22′29″E / 48.21167°N 16.37472°E / 48.21167; 16.37472
Architecture
Architect(s)
TypeSynagogue architecture
Style
General contractorJacob Heinz (supervisor)
Completed1826
Website
www.ikg-wien.at
Historic site
Invalid designation
Official nameStadttempel
TypeCultural monument

The Stadttempel (English: City Prayer House), also called the Seitenstettengasse Temple, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located at Seitenstettengasse 4, in the Innere Stadt 1st district of Vienna, Austria. Completed in 1826, it is the main synagogue in Vienna. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.

History

The synagogue was constructed from 1824 to 1826. The luxurious Stadttempel was fitted into a block of houses and hidden from plain view of the street, because of an edict issued by Emperor Joseph II that only Roman Catholic places of worship were allowed to be built with facades fronting directly on to public streets.

This edict saved the synagogue from total destruction during the Kristallnacht in November 1938, since the synagogue could not be destroyed without setting on fire the buildings to which it was attached. The Stadttempel was the only synagogue in the city to survive World War II, as Nazi paramilitary troops with the help of local authorities destroyed all of the other 93 synagogues and Jewish prayer-houses in Vienna, starting with the Kristallnacht.

In August 1950, the coffins of Theodor Herzl and his parents were displayed at the synagogue, prior to their transfer for reburial in Israel.

In the 1981 Vienna synagogue attack, two people from a bar mitzvah ceremony at the synagogue were murdered and thirty injured when Palestinian Arab terrorists attacked the synagogue with machine guns and hand grenades. On 2 November 2020, a terrorist attack near the synagogue left four civilians dead and 23 others wounded. It was not immediately certain if the synagogue was the target of the attack.

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

The synagogue has been declared a historic monument.

Architecture

The synagogue was designed in elegant Biedermeier style by the Viennese architect Joseph Kornhäusel, architect to Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein, for whom he had built palaces, theaters and other buildings. Construction was supervised by the official municipal architect, Jacob Heinz.

Two five-story apartment houses, Numbers 2 and 4 Seitenstettengasse, were built at the same time as the synagogue, designed by the architect to screen the synagogue from the street in compliance with the Patent of Toleration, which permitted members of tolerated faiths to worship in clandestine churches, but not in buildings with facades on public streets. The synagogue is structurally attached to the apartment building at #4 Seitenstettengasse.

The synagogue itself is in the form of an oval. A ring of twelve Ionic columns support a two-tiered women's gallery. Originally, the galleries ended one column away from the Torah Ark, they were later extended to the columns beside the ark to provide more seating. the building is domed and lit by a lantern in the center of the dome, in classic Biedermeyer style.

A commemorative glass made at the time of the synagogue's dedication and etched with a detailed image of the synagogue's interior is now in the collection of the Jewish Museum (New York).

The synagogue underwent renovation in 1895 and again in 1904 by the Jewish architect Wilhelm Stiassny, adding considerable ornamentation, and, in the opinion of architectural historian Rachel Wischnitzer, "the serene harmony of the design was spoiled by renovations." Damage inflicted on Kristallnacht was repaired in 1949. The "Stadttempel" was renovated once again in 1963 by Prof. Otto Niedermoser.

Notable members

Gallery

  • Stadttempel façade and front entrance Stadttempel façade and front entrance
  • Stadttempel interior Stadttempel interior

See also

References

  1. Bagley, Chris (November 9, 2008). "Austrian Jews have yet to regain numbers". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  2. "Novemberpogrom". geschichtewiki. City of Vienna. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Stadttempel Synagogue, Vienna". Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  4. Frankl, Oscar Benjamin (1949). Theodor Herzl, the Jew and the man: a portrait. Storm. p. 136.
  5. "Around the World; Palestinians Get Life In Austrian Slayings". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 22, 1982. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  6. Bachner, Michael (November 2, 2020). "At least 2 dead in 'repulsive terror attack' at multiple sites in Vienna". The Times of Israel. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  7. Eddy, Melissa; Bennhold, Katrin; Schuetze, Christopher F. (November 3, 2020). "Vienna Terrorist Attack Leaves at Least 4 Dead and Many Wounded". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  8. Pancevski, Bojan; Bender, Ruth; Boston, William (November 3, 2020). "Vienna Shooting Kills Four, Injures Several in Terrorist Act". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  9. ^ Wischnitzer, Rachel (1964). Architecture of the European Synagogue. Jewish Publication Society of America. p. 178.
  10. Kaplan, Benjamin J. (2007). "Chapter 8". Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe. Harvard University Press. p. 193.
  11. Russell, John (June 1, 1986). "ART VIEW; HALLOWED OBJECTS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH THE FIRES (Published 1986)". The New York Times. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  12. Klaus Kempter, Die Jellineks 1820-1955, 1998

External links

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