The Great Synagogue in Dohány utca, Tobacco Alley in German, hence also called Tabaktempel, is a synagogue in Budapest built according to the plans of the Viennese architect Ludwig Förster 1854-59 in the Moorish style for the Pest Jewish community. It followed the moderate rite, which is called in Hungary as Neolog (roughly similar to the Conservative Judaism) and is with about 3000 seats Europe's largest synagogue.
Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fe_Synagoge_(Budapest)
The Great Synagogue (Hungarian: nagy zsinagóga) on Dohány utca, German Tabakgasse, therefore also called Tabaktempel, is a synagogue built in Moorish style for the Pest Jewish community in 1854–59 according to plans by the Viennese architect Ludwig Förster under the direction of Ignaz Wechselmann in Budapest. It followed the moderate rite, which in Hungary is called Neolog (roughly similar to Conservative Judaism) and is now Europe's largest synagogue with 2,964 seats. And it is the second largest in the world.
Jews have been documented in what was later to become Budapest since the 11th century for Buda and the 15th century for Pest. Jews were not allowed to settle in Pest again until the late 18th century. In the 19th century, the prosperous Jewish community in Pest recorded strong growth, so that the existing synagogues were no longer sufficient. Initially the community could not agree on how Orthodox the new synagogue should be, but in 1853 a compromise was reached and a competition was announced, which the Viennese architect Ludwig Förster won with a design in the Moorish style. Construction work began in the summer of 1854 and the synagogue was inaugurated on September 6, 1859.
The building complex also includes the Budapest Jewish Museum (Zsidó Múzeum), built on the site of the childhood home of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism. The new building was built for this purpose in 1930–1931 and contains pieces of the Pest Chevra Kadisha and now also commemorates the Holocaust. On the side wall of the synagogue there is a monument to the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved many Hungarian Jews during World War II.
Ferenc Liszt and Camille Saint-Saëns also played on the large organ.
The Great Synagogue in Dohány utca, German Tabakgasse, therefore also called Tabaktempel, is a synagogue in Budapest built according to plans by the Viennese architect Ludwig Förster under the direction of Ignaz Wechselmann between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish style for the Jewish community of Pest.
Translated by Google •
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