Barbara already gave extensive information so I will only add some pictures.
Author Archives: hersh
The Leo Frankel Synagogue in Buda
This past Shabbes, we visited the Neolog Leo Frankel Shul near the western banks of Budapest, also known as Buda. Not only was it closest to where we were staying, but also some dear friends recommended it to us warmly. And indeed we were welcomed graciously and took part in the tefillah. Women sit separately […]
Vác
At the banks of the Danube in northern central Hungary you will find the small city of Vác. The Synagogue is a beautiful building, but we couldn’t get in.
The Great Synagogue of Györ
Can be found at Kossuth Lajos utca 5 near the center of Györ, a town of over 100.000 inhabitants, among them approximately 10 Jews. As the post-Shoah community of 780 survivors didn’t have the means for its upkeep, the building was sold to the city of Györ some time in the 1960s. Since the 1970s […]
Sopron (aka Ödenburg) and its Unaccessible Synagogues
We found three former Synagogues in the town of Sopron: the hidden one, the unrecognizable one, and the blocked one. The first one is the “Old Synagogue”. It is said to be a remnant of the first Jewish community in Sopron, that was driven out in 1526. It is built into a back yard and […]
The Circular Synagogue of Köszeg
In the year 5620, a certain Philip Schey donated 20.000 Forint (today’s equivalent of about 10 ice cream coffees) to build a most unusual synagogue. It is designed as a circle within a square, topped by a magnificent dome. On any day the space is filled with light from all sides. It is somewhat difficult […]
Sunday afternoon in Szombathely
It is blisteringly hot. Few people on the streets, most coffee houses are closed. On Rákóczi Ferenc utca, the main street leading to Batthyány Tér, a large square where the defunct Neolog Synagogue of Szombathely is located, components of wooden huts have been distributed on the sidewalks. This is in preparation to the Hungarian national holiday […]
Jewish Cemetery Floridsdorf
Squeezed in between a railroad viaduct and a building materials dealership a tiny Jewish cemetery may be found. Floridsdorf is one of the Viennese districts on the “other” side of the Danube (viewed from the city center), huge in size and population, containing industrial as well as agricultural areas. Before the Shoah it was home […]
Žilina’s Neolog Art Center and Orthodox Shil
When the Neolog movement spread throughout Hungary and related territories in the 2nd half of the 19th century, the Jewish community of Žilina adopted the new ideas and left the old ways behind. Only a small number of jews stayed faithful to Orthodox judaism. They broke away and formed their own community. Then came the […]
The Grave of The Chatam Sofer
Near the banks of the river Danube in Bratislava there is a streetcar station (tram stop for our friends from the UK) named for non other than the Chatam Sofer who is buried here. Moshe Schreiber, better known as the Chatam Sofer was one of the greatest rabbis of his generation and served for some […]