Great Synagogue in Plzeň

Friday, 10 June 2022 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  3 minutes

© Otto Domes/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Otto Domes/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Great Synagogue (Czech: Velká Synagoga) in Plzeň (Pilsen), Czech Republic is the second largest synagogue in Europe. A Viennese architect Max 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 2 December 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.

© Miaow Miaow/cc-by-sa-3.0 © Palickap/cc-by-sa-4.0 © panoramio.com - Mister No/cc-by-3.0 © Norbert Aepli/cc-by-2.5 © Norbert Aepli/cc-by-2.5 © Otto Domes/cc-by-sa-4.0
<
>
© panoramio.com - Mister No/cc-by-3.0
The mixture of styles is truly bewildering; from the onion domes of a Russian Orthodox church, to the Arabic style ceiling, to the distinctly Indian looking Torah ark. The synagogue was used without interruption until the Nazi occupation of World War II. The synagogue was used as a storage facility during the war and was thereby spared from destruction. 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, when the synagogue was closed down and fell into disrepair under communist rule.

Restoration was undertaken from 1995–98, and the synagogue was reopened on 11 February 1998 at a cost of 63 million . The central hall is now often used for concerts from such legends as Joseph Malowany, Peter Dvorský, or Karel Gott, while the walls host temporary photographic exhibitions of various causes. The synagogue is still used for worship, but only in what was formerly the winter prayer room. The present number of Pilsner Jews is a little over 70.

Read more on VisitPilsen.eu – Great Synagogue and Wikiepdia Great Synagogue (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Cape Ferret on the Atlantic

Cape Ferret on the Atlantic

[caption id="attachment_153200" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Cap Ferret Lighthouse © Larrousiney/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Cap Ferret (English: Cape Ferret) is a headland, situated at the south end of the commune of Lège-Cap-Ferret in the French department of Gironde and region of Aquitaine. The headland takes the form of a spit, which separates the Atlantic Ocean from Arcachon Bay. At the same time, the entrance to Arcachon Bay separates Cap Ferret from the resort town of Arcachon. Under Napoleon III. the oys...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Estonia - Kuressaare

Theme Week Estonia - Kuressaare

[caption id="attachment_227200" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Kuressaare Castle © Stefan Hiienurm/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Kuressaare is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. The town is situated on the southern coast of Saaremaa island, facing the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea, and is served by the Kuressaare Airport, Roomassaa...

[ read more ]

The Oasis of the Seas

The Oasis of the Seas

[caption id="attachment_152647" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Leaving STX shipyard in Turku, Finland © Zache/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]MS Oasis of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship, delivered to her owner, Royal Caribbean International, in October 2009. The first of her class, she was joined by her sister ship MS Allure of the Seas in December 2010. Both vessels cruise the Caribbean from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She set a new record of carrying over 6,000 passengers. The ship surpassed t...

[ read more ]

Nyon on Lake Geneva

Nyon on Lake Geneva

[caption id="attachment_160825" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Nyon © Chin tin tin[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Nyon is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Geneva metropolitan area. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is the seat of the district of Nyon. The town has (as of December 2010) a population of 18,728. It is connected to the rest of Switzerland by way of the R...

[ read more ]

Arlington Heights in Illinois

Arlington Heights in Illinois

[caption id="attachment_231589" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Harmony Park in Downtown © panoramio.com - bogdanstepniak/cc-by-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Arlington Heights is a municipality in Cook County with a small portion in Lake County in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of the city's downtown. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 77,676. Per the 2010 Census, it is the most populous community in the United States that is incorporated as a "village", and is th...

[ read more ]

Tarutao National Park in Thailand

Tarutao National Park in Thailand

[caption id="attachment_219822" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Toey19863/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Tarutao National Park consists of 51 islands in the Strait of Malacca, off the coast of Satun Province of southern Thailand. The Tarutao National Park consists of two island groups: Tarutao and Adang-Rawi, which are scattered from 20 to 70 kilometres' distance from the south-westernmost point of mainland Thailand. The park covers an area of 1,490 square kilometres (1,260 ocean, 230 island). The southernmost end of...

[ read more ]

Delray Beach in Florida, America's Most Fun Small Town

Delray Beach in Florida, America's Most Fun Small Town

[caption id="attachment_192632" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Delray Beach © D Ramey Logan/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Delray Beach is a coastal city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach is estimated at 67,000. Delray Beach is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which is home to an estimated 6.2 million people. The city's eastern boundary includes 3 miles (4.8 km) of beachfront along the Atlantic Ocean. Delray Beach is one of South Florida's most popular beach d...

[ read more ]

The Großherzogin Elisabeth

The Großherzogin Elisabeth

[caption id="attachment_168173" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-2.5[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Großherzogin Elisabeth is a 1909 German sailing ship built as the San Antonio, a replacement for the 1907 freighter San Antonio which had been lost in a collision at sea. On 25 January 1914, San Antonio ran aground off the coast of Morocco. In 1929 she capsized near Copenhagen, Denmark; however, she was salvageable and was converted into a coastal trading vessel.[gallery size="medium" gss="1" ids="16817...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Tokyo

Theme Week Tokyo

[caption id="attachment_225096" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Shibuya Crossing © Takuya Matsuyama/cc-by-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Tokyo, historically known in the west as Tokio and officially the Tokyo Metropolis (Tōkyō-to), is the capital, the largest city, and the most populous metropolitan area in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Kantō region, and Japan, as well as the most populous metropolitan area in the world and most populous prefecture of Japan. Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, the prefecture forms part of the Ka...

[ read more ]

The international maritime city of Southampton

The international maritime city of Southampton

[caption id="attachment_151007" align="aligncenter" width="590"] RMS Queen Mary 2 in the Southampton Dock © Sassan[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated 120 kilometres (75 mi) south-west of London and 30 kilometres (19 mi) north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest. It lies at the northernmost point of Southampton Water at the confluence of the River Test and River Itchen, with the Rive...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
St. Anne Catherdal - flickr.com - Stuart/cc-by-sa-2.0
Cathedral Quarter in Belfast

The Cathedral Quarter (Irish: Ceathrú na hArdeaglaise) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a developing area of the city, roughly situated...

Clock outside the Bevis Marks Synagogue © Ethan Doyle White/cc-by-sa-4.0
Bevis Marks Synagogue in London

Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim ("Holy Congregation Gate of Heaven"), is the oldest synagogue in the United...

Main Street © Ellin Beltz/cc-by-sa-3.0
Ferndale in California

Ferndale is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 1,371 at the 2010 census, down from...

Schließen