Isaac M. Wise Temple

Infobox_nrhp | name =Plum Street Temple
nrhp_type =nhl


caption =The Isaac M. Wise Temple
location= Cincinnati, Ohio
lat_degrees = 39 | lat_minutes = 6 | lat_seconds = 13.22 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 84 | long_minutes = 31 | long_seconds = 5.05 | long_direction = W
area =
built =1865
architect= James Keys Wilson
architecture= Exotic Revival, Other
added = December 27, 1972
governing_body = Private
refnum=72001021 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] The Isaac M. Wise Temple (formerly the Plum Street Temple) is the historic temple erected for Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. Rabbi Wise was the founder of American Reform Judaism. The Temple is located at 720 Plum Street in Cincinnati, Ohio. The members of the Lodge Street Synagogue built this Temple and it was dedicated on Friday, August 24, 1866. As a daily paper wrote at the time, "Cincinnati never before had seen so much grandeur pressed into so small a space."Fact|date=July 2007 Although originally budgeted at a cost of $35,000 for the land, and $55,000 for the building, the total cost of the enterprise exceeded $300,000, largely due to post Civil War inflation.Fact|date=July 2007

The temple is across Plum Street from the historic Saint Peter In Chains Cathedral and next to site of the former St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral, which was torn down in 1937.

In 1972, the Plum Street Temple was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Architecture

This building was constructed by James Keyes Wilson with a 19th century Germanic architectural style thet blended the Neo-Byzantine architecture and Moorish Revival style derived from the architecture of Moorish Spain. The style of the synagogue, including the tripartite, twin-domed facade, were copied from the The Leopoldstädter Tempel, built in Vienna, Austria, in 1853. Many American congregations built Moorish Revival synagogues with facades inspired by Plum Street and Leopoldstädter.

The temple has a tripartite facade, rose window and a basilica style arch, similar to a Gothic Cathedral, but its Islamic influences are visible in its minarets and other details.cite book |last= Painter|first= Sue Anne|authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Architecture in Cincinnati|year= |publisher= |location= |isbn= ]

Plum Street is notable for having been the first of many American Moorish Revival synagogues. [ Moorish Influence At Home in the City, by FRANCIS MORRONE, New York Sun, December 15, 2006, http://www2.nysun.com/arts/moorish-influence-at-home-in-the-city/] All examples of similar architecture in Germany were destroyed by Hitler,cite news | first = Sarah | last = Stephens | work=Cincitecture |title=Citybeat |page=47 |date=July 18-24, 2007] although many examples survive in other parts of Europe.

References

External links

* [http://www.wisetemple.org/ Wise Temple Website]
* [http://www.cincinnatimemory.org/gsdl/collect/greaterc/archives/HASH9e5c/32450d7e.dir/ocp000085pccpc.jpgPlum Street Temple]
* [http://www.cincinnatimemory.org/gsdl/collect/greaterc/archives/HASHcdda/4ea5f0a4.dir/ocp001861slide.jpgPlum Street Temple circa 1905]