Synagogue (Kőszeg)

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The synagogue, state 2010

The synagogue in Kőszeg ( German  Güns , Hungary ) is a Jewish house that Philipp Freiherr Schey of Koromľa donated his home town. The building is now a listed building . Since 1944 it has been left to decay.

history

There is evidence of Jews in Kőszeg since the Middle Ages. They were first expelled in 1420. A new community was formed in 1509 when Jews were expelled from Bohemia, who were expelled in 1565. Two Jewish families lived in the city in the 18th century. In 1819 there were 82 Jews, including a rabbi and two teachers. One of the two most influential families of this time was the Schey von Koromla family, then still under the name Schey. In 1852 the community became independent as a religious community .

Philipp Schey von Koromla, who had become wealthy as a wholesaler, was the first Jew from Hungary to be ennobled in the Habsburg Empire in 1859 and made a baron in 1871, set up a foundation from whose assets the synagogue of Kőszeg was built. Construction began in 1858; it was inaugurated the following year. In addition to the synagogue and the mikveh, the complex includes the Talmud - Torah school, the rabbi's apartment and outbuildings. The neo-Gothic synagogue is 30.6 by 12.8 meters. The dome was decorated in the Baroque style , the inscription "built in honor of God by Philip Schey von Koromla" refers to the donor. His name is also above the entrance to the synagogue below the representation of the tablets of the law . The Jewish community grew particularly strongly until the beginning of the First World War .

During the National Socialist era , the city's Jews were persecuted and driven out. On June 11, 1944, a ghetto was established for the last 44 survivors. They were deported on June 18, 1944, first taken to a central assembly camp in Steinamanger and from there to Auschwitz on July 4, 1944 . The survivors of the death march of the Budapest Jews were brought to Kőszeg in November 1944 . They fell victim to the Rechnitz massacre in March 1945 .

The synagogue has been falling into disrepair since 1944. The ownership structure has not yet been clarified. The “Sorstalanság” foundation, named after the novel by Imre Kertész , runs the facility. There is a small museum in the former rabbi's apartment. The synagogue's roof is patchy, and the windows are missing. The women's gallery threatens to collapse. The Torah shrine and the painting on the dome have been preserved. The former Talmud Torah school is used as a sales room for furniture and household items.

Web links

Commons : Synagogue (Kőszeg)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tina Walzer: The Synagogue of Kőszeg ( Memento from January 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: David , issue 86, September 2010
  2. ↑ a b Archdiocese of Vienna  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.erzdioezese-wien.at  
  3. ↑ Gerd Polster: The development of the Israelite cultural communities Güssing, Rechnitz and Stadtschlaining in the second half of the 19th century on the website of the Austrian Jewish Museum
  4. ^ Josef Mentschl: Schey von Koromla Philipp. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 10, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1994, ISBN 3-7001-2186-5 , p. 101 f. (Direct links on p. 101 , p. 102 ).
  5. ↑ Michael Blumenthal: The Silent Synagogue of Köszeg . In: Hilda Raz (Ed.): The Prairie schooner. Anthology of contemporary Jewish American writing , University of Nebraska Press 1998, pp. 64–66 (English)
  6. ↑ Learning about Judaism The community no. 651 august 2009 aw / elul 5769 on the website of the Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe from August 5, 2009

Coordinates: 47 ° 23 '29.2 "  N , 16 ° 32' 28.9"  E