Popper Synagogue

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Coordinates: 50 ° 3 ′ 8.8 ″  N , 19 ° 56 ′ 55.6 ″  E

Popper Synagogue (2007)

The Popper Synagogue ( Polish : Synagoga Wolfa Poppera w Krakowie or Synagoga Małą ) is located in the old Jewish district of Kazimierz in Krakow at Ulica Szeroka 16.

history

The synagogue was built in 1620 by the wealthy Jewish merchant and financier Wolf Popper . Thanks to his generosity, the synagogue received the richest interior of all Krakow synagogues. Their costly maintenance led to a serious impoverishment in the following generations, close to bankruptcy. Therefore the Jewish community in Krakow took over the synagogue, which only paid for the bare essentials. The synagogue was first mentioned in the tax list in 1653.

Originally the synagogue was built at the back of Popper's house on Szeroka Street, its eastern wall adjoining the Kazimierz protective wall. In 1827 the synagogue was considerably expanded: an outbuilding in which the women's gallery was located, a new roof, stairs and canopies where the women could chat. A triaxial entrance gate was built at Ulica Szeroka, which leads to the synagogue. Further restoration work and alterations took place in 1898 and 1904.

During the Second World War , the interior of the synagogue was significantly destroyed by the National Socialists and the valuable interior fittings were irretrievably lost. After the war, the synagogue was in poor condition. As a result of a bomb, the roof collapsed and the wall on Dajwór Street was damaged. Thanks to the efforts of the Jewish Congregation of the Mosaic Faith (Kongregacja Wyznania Mojżeszowego) in Kraków, the synagogue was soon rebuilt.

  • Entrance gate to Popper Synagogue (2006)

  • The view from the courtyard to the gate and Ulica Szeroka

  • View from Ulica Dajwór

  • View of the inner courtyard of the synagogue

Jewish emigrants from the Soviet Union lived in the rooms of the former women's gallery for several years . In 1956, the Miejska Rada Narodowa municipal administration issued an eviction notice to convert the synagogue into a cultural center for the deaf . The Kongregacja Wyznania Mojżeszowego and its president Maciej Jakubowicz protested against these plans , who was of the opinion that the synagogue should not be used for local entertainment. In the meantime, the Polish Association of the Deaf ( Polskiego Związku Głuchoniemych ) in Krakow came to the conclusion that the synagogue was not suitable as a location for a cultural center and therefore abandoned the plans. The protest of the Kongregacja Wyznania Mojżeszowego was the largest protest of the Jewish community in post-war Poland.

Extensive renovation work was carried out on the synagogue between 1965 and 1967: the recess for the Torah shrine was walled up, the entrance on Dajwór Street was demolished and the wooden canopies and outbuildings were demolished. After completion of the renovation, the synagogue became a branch of the Staromiejskiego Centrum Kultury Młodzieży youth cultural center with the consent of the Jewish community in Kraków Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska w Krakowie .

In 2005, further renovations were carried out, during which the building was plastered and the windows replaced so that it resembled the synagogue before the war. Since 1996, the “ Odkrywanie Kazimierza ” workshops have been held as part of the Kraków Jewish Culture Festival , where participants learn something about the history and culture of Kazimierz - the former Jewish district of Kraków through art.

architecture

View of the synagogue from the inner courtyard

The synagogue is built in baroque style on a rectangular floor plan with bricks and stones (lower part of the walls). The walls are supported by mighty buttresses . Inside there is a rectangular main prayer hall with a barrel vault , which can be entered through a small anteroom. In front of the entrance to the synagogue on Ulica Szeroka there is a small rectangular courtyard, which is closed by a three-axis entrance gate. Above the central aisle there is a plaque with a reconstructed inscription in Hebrew, contents:

" Synagogue R. Wolf Popper, built in 5380 (1620), restored by the Board of Directors in 5664 (1904) "

To this day, the original layout of the prayer hall and the rooms for the women in the northern part, to which an external staircase in the northwest corner lead, has been preserved. On the walls and vaults, the remains of polychrome painting by Schoenkera are preserved, which were painted over with a thin layer of white chalk paint.

  • Hebrew inscription above the entrance gate

  • Main hall

  • Main hall

  • Main hall

  • The upper room

  • View from the anteroom into the main hall

Only the bas-relief made of oak and the polychrome baroque door of the Torah shrine from the 18th century, which are now in the collection of the private museum of Isaak and Edith Wolfsonów in Jerusalem , remain of the original furnishings . The bas-relief depicts a lion, an eagle, a deer and a leopard, which function as symbols of human abilities and strength. Above is the Torah crown and the inscription in Hebrew.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Odkrywanie Kazimierza , Jewish Cultural Festival in Krakow