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 […]
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The Köszeg Synagogue: A Jewel that must be seen
If one knows baroque Catholic Churches or just buildings from the baroque period, this is the place to go. From the outside you won‘t get the impression what to expect: a real baroque jewel. The synagogue has been renovated recently and this work is really impressive. It shows what is possible even if it looks […]
Drawing in Szombathely
An really warm afternoon. Some tourists are around. A small dog passing by. What a great place to draw! The synagogue is built in a moorish style, as seen on the towers, windows and details. It was built after 1870, as the Jewish community parted and this building was newly built. Source: Wikipedia Today it […]
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 […]
The Trenčín Jewish Cemetery
The Cemetery is on Partizánska road, perhaps 1km from the town center. It is on a slope and enclosed by a wall approximately 2m high. The gates are safely locked and it is difficult to get a glimps inside. We did our best, however, and managed to take some photographs from over the wall or […]
Synagóga Café, Trnava
My first reaction was dismay. But then I sat down, had a lemonade and began to argue with myself. The dismay I experience is not really with the proprietors who have turned this beautiful building into a beautiful, pleasant, spacious coffee house. It is the decline and destruction of Jewish life in Slovakia and the […]