Lost Synagogues of Europe chronicles and recreates in vivid color paintings the life stories of nearly 80 majestic-and destroyed-European synagogues, each one a testament to the approximately 17,000 synagogues decimated during the Third Reich and early takeover of the Communist regimes. After World War II only about 3,300 buildings remained standing, and just more than 700 are still in use as synagogues. This exquisite and significant work of historical preservation collects, organizes, and documents their stories.
In four chapters organized by inauguration dates (1600s, 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s), author and artist Andrea Strongwater shines light on 77 synagogues built from the early 1600s to 1930 and spanning 16 European countries where destruction was rampant: Austria (6 synagogues), Belarus (3), Croatia (2), the Czech Republic (5), Estonia (1), France (2), Germany (26), Italy (1), Latvia (2), Lithuania (5), Luxembourg State (1), the Netherlands (1), Poland (15), Russia (1), Slovakia (2), and Ukraine (4). Strongwater lovingly illustrates their exteriors and interiors and tells stories of their history, Jewish community, and architectural significance. These synagogues were considered important enough to have been documented in their time, and so here they do double duty: reminding us of the many thousands of other synagogues that were obliterated without having left any historical record.
A foreword by Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Emeritus Ismar Schorsch examines the evolution of the synagogue “from a sacred place to a sacred book.” A map of the 2024 political landscape of Europe (with Pale of Settlement and Russian Poland, mid-1800s) helps readers locate each city, town, and country. A cross-reference guide of synagogue locations by country enables readers to find synagogues in the cities and towns of their ancestors.
In all, Lost Synagogues of Europe helps to revive a thriving European Jewish culture and heritage that needs to be remembered today.
Foreword: From a Sacred Place to a Sacred Book
by Ismar Schorsch
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Where Jews Once Gathered
Guide: Synagogue Locations by Country
1. 1600s
Livorno: 1603, exterior and interior
Vilnius: Great Synagogue, 1633, exterior and interior
ZabłudÓw: between 1635 and 1646, exterior
Liuboml: mid-1600s–early 1700s, exterior
2. 1700s
Gąbin: 1710 (rebuilt in the late 1800s), exterior
Berlin: Old Synagogue, 1714, exterior and interior
Voŭpa: first half of 1700s, exterior
PrzedbÓrz: between 1754 and 1760, exterior and interior
Niasviž: Great Synagogue, 1700s, exterior
Varniai: Wooden Synagogue, late 1700s, exterior
3. 1800s
Seesen: 1810, exterior
Homieĺ: Great Synagogue, 1833, exterior
Bad Buchau: 1839, exterior and interior
Kassel: 1839, exterior and interior
Dresden: Semper Synagogue, 1840, exterior and interior
Belz: Great Synagogue, 1843, exterior
Hamburg: Temple, 1844, exterior and interior
Lviv: Temple, 1845, exterior
Varniai: Masonry Synagogue, mid-1800s, exterior
Vienna: LeopoldstÄdter Temple, 1858, exterior and interior
Kretinga: 1860 (restored after an 1889 fire), exterior
Gliwice: New Synagogue, 1861, exterior
TelŠiai: Great Beit Midrash, 1861, exterior
Aachen: 1862, exterior
Bochum: 1863 (rebuilt in 1896), exterior
Épinal: 1863, exterior
Jelgava: 1864, exterior
Bytom: 1869, exterior
Hannover: New Synagogue, 1870, exterior and interior
Riga: Great Choral Synagogue, 1871, exterior
Wrocław: New Synagogue, 1872, exterior
Vienna: Turner Temple, 1872, exterior
Nuremberg: Synagogue at Hans-Sachs-Platz, 1874, exterior
Heilbronn: 1877, exterior and interior
Karlovy Vary: 1877, exterior and interior
Warsaw: Great Synagogue, 1878, exterior and interior
Bruchsal: 1881, exterior and interior
Teplice: 1882, exterior and interior
TÜbingen: 1882, exterior and interior
Bydgoszcz: 1884, exterior
Landau in der Pfalz: 1884, exterior and interior
MariÁnskÉ LÁzně: 1884, exterior
Kłodzko, 1885, exterior
Gdańsk: Great Synagogue, 1887, exterior and interior
ŁÓdź: Great Synagogue, 1887, exterior and interior
ČeskÉ Budějovice: 1888, exterior
Rawicz: 1889, exterior
Horokhiv: Great Synagogue, 1880s, exterior
Graz: 1892, exterior
Pforzheim: 1892, exterior
Vienna: Polish Shul, 1892, exterior and interior
Vukovar: 1889, exterior
Bratislava: Neolog Synagogue, 1893, exterior
Luxembourg: Great Synagogue, 1894, exterior
Kaliningrad: New Synagogue, 1896, exterior
Slavonski Brod: 1896, exterior
Olomouc: 1897, exterior and interior
Strasbourg: Synagogue du Quai KlÉber, 1898, exterior
Baden Baden: 1899, exterior
Chemnitz: 1899, exterior
Kežmarok: second half of 1800s, exterior
4. 1900s
Dortmund: 1900, exterior
Katowice: Great Synagogue, 1900, exterior and interior
Bad Kissingen: New Synagogue, 1902, exterior
Vienna: Neudeggergasse Synagogue, 1903, exterior and interior
Tartu: 1903, exterior and interior
Bielefeld: 1905, exterior
Jasło: 1905, exterior
Darmstadt: Orthodox Synagogue, 1906, exterior and interior
Frankfurt: Synagogue at Friedberger Anlage, 1907, exterior and interior
TarnÓw: Jubilee Synagogue, 1908, exterior and interior
Mainz: Main Synagogue, 1912, exterior and interior
Białystok: Great Synagogue, 1913, exterior and interior
Essen: 1913, exterior and interior
Amsterdam: Synagogue at Linnaeusstraat, 1928, exterior and interior
Vienna: Hietzinger Synagogue, 1928, exterior
Plauen: 1930, exterior and interior
Notes
Bibliography
