Great Synagogue (Plzeň)

Infobox religious building
building_name=Great Synagogue, Plzeň
Velká Synagoga


caption=
location=Plzeň, Czech Republic
geo=
religious_affiliation=
district=
status=
leadership=
website= [http://www.zoplzen.cz/ Jewish Municipality of Pilsen]
architecture_type=
architecture_style=Moorish-Romanesque Revival
facade_direction=east
year_completed=1892
construction_cost=162,138 guilders
architect=Emmanuel Klotz
capacity= more than 2,000
length=
width=
width_nave=
height_max=45 meters
dome_quantity=
dome_height_outer=
dome_height_inner=
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dome_dia_inner=
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materials=The Great Synagogue ( _cs. Velká Synagoga) in Plzeň (Pilsen), Czech Republic is the second largest synagogue in Europe. [Jewish Heritage Report, Vol. I, Nos. 3-4 / Winter 1997-98, Pilsen Synagogue, Synagogue Rededicated in Pilsen, Czech Republicby Richard Allen Greene [http://www.isjm.org/jhr/nos3-4/pilsen.htm] ]

A Viennese architect called Fleischer drew up the original plans for the synagogue in Gothic style with granite buttresses and twin 65-meter towers. The cornerstone was laid on December 2, 1888 and that was about as far as it got. City councillors rejected the plan in a clear case of tower envy as they felt that the grand erection would compete with the nearby Cathedral of St. Bartholomew. Emmanuel Klotz put forward a new design in 1890 retaining the original ground plan and hence the cornerstone, but lowering the towers by 20m and creating the distinctive look combining Romantic and neo-Renaissance styles covered with Oriental decorations and a giant Star of David. The design was quickly approved and master builder Rudolf Štech completed work in 1893 for the bargain price of 162,138 guilders. At the time the Jewish community in Plzeň numbered some 2,000. The mixture of styles is truly bewildering; from the onion domes of a Russian orthodox church, to the Islamic style ceiling, to the distinctly Indian looking Aron kodesh. The synagogue served uninterrupted until the Nazi occupation of World War II, and the Jewish community that retook possession of the synagogue at the end of hostilities had been decimated by the Holocaust. The last regular service was held in 1973, and then the synagogue was closed down and allowed to fall into disrepair under communist rule. Restoration was undertaken from 1995-98, and the synagogue was reopened on February 11, 1998 for the significantly higher price of 63 million Kč. The building is now put to good use with the central hall used for concerts from such legends as Joseph Malowany, Peter Dvorský, or Karel Gott, while the walls play host to temporary photographic exhibitions of various worthy-causes. Synagogue is still used for praying but it's held only in former winter prayer room. Number of Pilsner Jews exceeds 70 souls.

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.pruvodce.com/synagogaplzen/ Short overview] (in Czech)
* [http://www.kr-plzensky.cz/Relics.asp?lngPamatka=944619 Details of architecture] (in Czech)
* [http://www.synagogaconcerts.cz/synagoga_int.htm Picture of the interior]

References