Medieval Synagogue (Vienna)

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Reconstruction model of the synagogue on today's Judenplatz. Condition after 1406. Scale 1:25

The medieval synagogue of Vienna was first built around 1200 and later expanded. It formed the center of the Jewish community of the first Jewish settlement in Vienna . From the 13th to the 15th century it was one of the largest synagogues in Europe.

The synagogue - the center of the community

Plan of the ghetto in the inner city at the time of its abolition in 1421. The synagogue was located in the free-standing square

The synagogue was located in the center of the Jewish quarter on today's Judenplatz , at that time the schoolyard (mentioned in 1294), in the first district. The schoolyard was named after the church there. In the Middle Ages synagogues were called schola , in German school ( Judenschule ), and the Yiddish word for synagogue is still Schil or Schul. The geographic and symbolic center of a community was often the synagogue, the protection of which was the responsibility of the sovereign as part of the general protection of Jews. In addition to its religious functions, the synagogue was the place of internal Jewish jurisdiction, the place of announcements, but also the settlement of Christian-Jewish disputes, it was also the place of taking the Jewish oath , the place of public penance and punishment.

A Talmudic principle made it compulsory to make the synagogue (also called Beth HaKnesset) the tallest building in the city. The synagogues of Toledo still bear witness to this zeal today. However, the situation of the synagogues in the countries of Europe deteriorated, complaints and bans by the royal and ecclesiastical authorities were very frequent. Church decrees also determined the height and size of the Vienna synagogue: the 22nd Provincial Council met in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna from May 10th to 12th, 1267, among other things, it was determined that the Jews were not allowed to build new synagogues and not renew old ones or increase and expand. The synagogues were also confiscated or destroyed. So the Jews mostly had to be content with modest buildings. The persecution, confiscations and heavy taxes also weighed on the community. Synagogues, in addition to Christian sacred buildings, looked more like profane buildings from the outside.

Building description and details

The building in Vienna was first mentioned in 1204 and initially had an area of ​​only 75 m² and was probably largely made of wood. At that time the building had three rooms, the entrance hall in the north, the women's school in the south and the men's school in the middle, according to Orthodox Jewish tradition, men and women are separated.

However, in 1406 the synagogue burned down and a new stone school was built. It had two aisles and was built by leading specialists from the Wiener Dombauhütte, which explains the Gothic style of the church. The medieval synagogue was modeled on the architectural style of the Worms synagogue , because a style element adopted from Worms was the two-aisled interior divided by two pillars. Today you can still see the remains of the pillars. The building consisted of a men's and women's school and other side rooms. After two expansion phases, it was expanded to a total of 465 m² and was one of the largest synagogues of the European Middle Ages. The women's section on the south side had a separate entrance and was further expanded during the newer construction phases. It was connected to the main room with slotted windows. There was also a winter room that could be heated. Furthermore, the entrance hall continued on the left to the Talmud school, which was on the north side. The walls of the synagogue were decorated with windows. This principle had its roots in Daniel's process. According to tradition, he has "in his upper room open windows facing Jerusalem , and three times a day he fell on his knees and prayed to God and praised him (chap. 6.2.)".

The remains of the synagogue, on the left the women's school (south side), in the middle of the room the hexagonal bima and further back the Torah shrine.

The main pole of a synagogue is the Torah shrine (this is where the Torah scrolls were kept). It was in an alcove on the east wall. The scrolls of the law were covered by an ornate cover made of fabric, the me'il , or cloak of the Torah. Under the cover, the rolls were held closed by a mapa , a pennant. The Torah, the most precious piece of a Jewish community, was decorated as splendidly as the means allowed. An eternal light burned in front of the shrine, also called ner tamid , a symbol of divine light. Such lamps were mostly star-shaped metal lamps. The rest of the lighting in the synagogue was provided by numerous oil lamps. These mostly hung from the vault or the crossbeam. It could undoubtedly be lowered to add oil or adjust the level. The interior of the medieval synagogue was arranged with another pole. Opposite the Torah shrine was the hexagonal bima in the middle of the room. The prayer leader of the congregation read the sacred texts from the platform. The bima was decorated with colorful floor tiles and painted walls made of red bricks and probably also had colored glass panes between the small round arches. The floor consisted of tiles that were colored green and brown, the vault was kept red. In the synagogue everyone had their fixed place to pray, especially respected and important members of the community were to the right and left of the Torah shrine. The others found themselves across from the shrine.

Responses and remarks by famous rabbis from Austria are particularly informative about the interior of a synagogue. The rich literature of the rabbinical response texts is a special feature in the fund of written evidence from the Middle Ages. The mostly written reports and comments on inquiries about Halacha were summarized in collections and passed on in the vicinity of the medieval schools of scholars. This is also how it is written about the elaborate lighting of the synagogue with candles or oil lamps. In that regard, at Meir ben Baruch of Rothenburg: ". The light of many candles in the synagogue - day or night - increases the festival spirit and the joy" It also follows from the texts that lights on or before the Torah shrine usual were . Isserlein notes : "(...) on the Aron ha-qodesh there are burning lamps". Regarding the width of the Torah shrine, or the niche, Meir ben Baruch von Rothenburg says: "It is preferable to make the Aron wide and lay the scrolls flat." The shrine itself was built with a door and a curtain ( parochet ) as early as the Middle Ages. locked. Measurements on the dimensions of the bima can be found in the response literature as well as information on the material or the height of the parapet. With regard to access to the Bima, Isserlein’s response is striking. When asked whether one should climb and descend the “tower” (Bima) through the eastern or western opening when the Torah is called, his answer is: “I use to go up from the side closest to my place, and I climb down the side far from my seat; as we say that whoever enters the vestibule enters from the shortest and exits from the furthest. ”Thanks to this statement, two opposite stairways to the Bima are named and these are on the east and west side and thus also one on the Side of the lectern localized, as was the case with the synagogue in Vienna.

Archaeological excavations unearthed finds that tell about daily life in the synagogue. Wooden comb, toys, keys, pens and coins were among the finds. In addition to the synagogue, there was also a hospital, a slaughterhouse and a mikveh .

When the community in the Viennese Gesera was driven out or murdered around 1421, some found refuge in the synagogue and committed Kiddush HaSchem in order to avoid forced baptism. Rabbi Jonah set the synagogue on fire before he chose this route. The building was then torn down and its stones were used in the construction of buildings for the theological faculty of the University of Vienna. The following was entered in the files of the university:

"Et, ecce mirum, Synagoga veteris legis in scholam virtutum novae legis mirabiliter transmutatur."

In German: “What a miracle! The house of the old covenant is wonderfully transformed into the high school of the new covenant! "

today

The memorial on Judenplatz, built in 2000 over the former synagogue.

Extensive excavations were carried out from 1995 to 1998 because the intention was to erect the memorial for the Austrian Jewish victims of the Shoah on the site . The foundations of the synagogue were uncovered and other found objects were taken to the adjacent museum on Judenplatz , where a permanent exhibition on Jewish medieval life is shown and the remains of the synagogue can be viewed, as the foundations of Bima and Aaron HaKodesch (Torah shrine) and the wings of the building, i.e. the women's school and winter parlor, were uncovered.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Tietze: The Jews of Vienna . Vienna, ISBN 3-900379-05-X , p. 21-22 .
  2. ↑ The Vienna Jewish City Video. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Thérése and Mendel Metzger: Jewish life in the Middle Ages; The Jewish Quarter . S. 65-74 .
  4. ↑ Martha Keil: Medieval synagogue buildings in: The history of the Jews in Austria . ISBN 978-3-8000-7159-3 , pp. 17-18 .
  5. ↑ Shut Maharam ben R. Barukh, p. 191, no. 69: Question about a heavily smoking oil lamp in the synagogue, p. 174f, no. 19; according to Kern-Ulmer (1990), p. 133
  6. ↑ Sefer Terumat Ha-Deshen Pesakim u-Ketavim § 67, according to Kern-Ulmer (1990), p. 134.
  7. ↑ Sefer Shut Maharam ben R. Barukh, Part 4 § 352; according to Kern-Ulmer (1990), p. 58.
  8. ↑ Sefer Terumat Ha-Deshen Pesakim u-Ketavim, § 119; quoted from Kern-Ulmer (1990), p. 78f.

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 42 ″  N , 16 ° 22 ′ 10.1 ″  E ,