The Synagogues We Saw in our Travels…
some now museums, some now churches, some only marked by plaques, some congregations without buildings

Former Synagogues; Now Museums: Which of the synagogues we visited are now Jewish museums and not living houses of worship because of the Nazis? Most of the museums are run by secular authorities (as penance?) and not, unless otherwise noted, by the Jewish community.

• Ferrara (Also has another synagogue, marked by a plaque… see below.)
  
• Krakow (A nearby bookshop may also have been a synagogue. This photo is of the street outside. We wanted to take a photo of the general view inside the museum, but the attendants asked for what seemed an exorbitant charge for that (I remember something about ±30€, so….))
  
• Berlin (The beautiful dome has been restored and old meeting rooms now also serve as space for reconstituted congregations.)
  
• Prague (All five of these, together, in addition to a couple of other buildings constitute the Jewish administered Jewish Museum of Prague.)
  • Maisel
  • Pinkas
  • Klausen
  • Spanish (Because of its neo-Moorish architecture, not its population)
    
  • The Alt-Neu (That's the building in front of Mark's favorite clock.)
    
    (The Alt Neu and the Spanish are again in use as houses of worship)
• Amsterdam (The three Ashkenazi synagogues together form the Jewish Historical Museum also, under Jewish auspices)

And which are now churches?

• Hořovice
  

And which are now secular community/cultural centers not Jewish?

• Deidesheim
  

… or a museum about something other than Jews and Judaism, in this case a potato museum?

• Fußgönheim
  

And which no longer exist (but remain as plaques)?

• Ferrara
  
• Eisenstadt
  
• Vienna
  
• Speyer
  
• Mainz (We were only able to find one of the destroyed synagogues)
  
• Hameln
  

Which were not destroyed and have been reconstituted with new or returning congregations?

• Amsterdam (Synagoge Jacob Obrechtplein)
• Delft
  
• Paris (Rue Copernic)
• Lyons
  
• Avignon (North Africans)
• Carpentras (North Africans)
  
• Florence (that's the blue dome in the background)
  
• Vienna (Stadttemple) [There exist a number of photos Online, but, I (M) like my photo because it shows a bit of the ceiling. Others pan further down to show the Ark]
  
• Berlin
  • Neue Synagoge aka Orianenberger Strasse Synagoge
  • Pestalozzistrasse Synagoge
• Prague
  • Spanish
  • The Alt-Neu
  • Jubilee (on Jeruzalémská)
• Worms
  
• Amsterdam - (the Portuguese synagogue)
  

Which have been rebuilt with new communities?

• Troyes
  
• Vienna (Sephardic)
  

Which new communities in European cities have found other spaces for their houses of worship?

• Paris
  • the Anglophone community of Kehillat Gesher… we do not have a photograph of the space they have redesigned
  • Another congregation, the name of which we do not know… where at one time the Paris Jewish Museum was housed
    
• Marseilles (North Africans… we do not have a photograph of the home in which they meet--no photos allowed on Shabbat)
• Florence (Americans and Italians)
  
• Vienna (an international group… we do not have a photograph of the building they have redesigned)
• Warsaw (Poles and Americans in their villa)
  
• Karlovy Vary (We found the building, but did not meet the community.)
  
• Hameln (has plans to rebuild on the site of the previous synagogue)
  

While on the subject of synagogues as museums, which Jewish museums are run by secular authorities (as penance?) and not by the Jewish community?

• Paris (where we saw the "Declaration of the Rights of Jews as Citizens")
  
• Eisenstadt
  
• Vienna (We're not certain who runs this.)
• Krakow (see above, synagogues now museums)
• Berlin (The Berlin Jewish Museum)
  

Which synagogue was built, secretly, under the noses of the Nazis… and, we're glad (!) it's no longer in use?

• Terezin
  

And which synagogues (along with their communities) simply no longer exist?

• France (The site lists both existing and destroyed synagogues.)
• Poland
• Germany

Start || back