The Leopoldstädter Tempel, also known as the Israelitische Bethaus in der Wiener Vorstadt Leopoldstadt, (''lit.'' "Israelite prayer house in the Vienna suburb of Leopoldstadt") was a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located on Tempelgasse 5, in

Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt (; ; "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna () in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th district), forms a large island surrou ...

, in the 2nd district of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Completed in 1858, the synagogue was destroyed as a result of ''

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

''. A monument marks the location of the former synagogue.

History

The congregation was established in . Designed by

Ludwig Förster Ludwig Christian Friedrich (von) Förster (8 October 1797 – 16 June 1863) was a German-born Austrian architect. While he was not Jewish, he is known for building Jewish synagogues and churches. Ludwig Förster studied in Munich and Vienna. ...

in the

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...

style, the synagogue was completed in 1858 and was the largest synagogue in Vienna. Fuerster's design incorporated spaces for 2,240 sitting and 1,500 standing worshipers. The complex included a

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

, meeting room and lodging for community officials. The tripartite

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

of the Leopoldstädter, with its tall central section flanked by lower wings on each side, became the model for numerous Moorish Revival synagogues, including the Choral Temple in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, which has an almost identical main façade; and several other synagogues. This temple was destroyed during ''

'' on November 10, 1938. A monument marks the location of the former synagogue, together with a memorial plaque that reads in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

(and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

): translated as:

Design influence

The Tempel, which housed a prestigious congregation in the capital of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, inspired the construction of several other synagogues in the Moorish Revival style. Some are designed similarly to Förster's building, with a flat façade and roof, tripartite massing with a large central block, symmetrical decorative minarets, and internal

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

plan with balconies. The design of the following synagogues were influenced by Förster's design of the Leopoldstädter Tempel: * Sofia Synagogue, Sofia, Bulgaria * Zagreb Synagogue, Croatia * Spanish Synagogue, Prague, Czech Republic *

Dohány Street Synagogue The Dohány Street Synagogue ( ; ; ), also known as the Great Synagogue () or Tabakgasse Synagogue (), is a Neolog Judaism, Neolog Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Dohány utca, Dohány Street in Erzsébetváros (VIIth dis ...

, Budapest, Hungary * Vercelli Synagogue, Vercelli, Italy * Tempel Synagogue, Kraków, Poland * Choral Temple, Bucharest, Romania *

Grand Synagogue of Edirne The Grand Synagogue of Edirne (; ), also known as the Adrianople Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Maarif Street, Edirne, in the Marmara Region of Turkey. Completed in 1909 in the Moorish Revival style, ...

, Turkey * Brodsky Choral Synagogue, Kyiv, Ukraine * Great Choral Synagogue, Kyiv, Ukraine * Plum Street Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Notable members

* Josef Goldstein, a former

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

at the synagogue * Moritz Güdemann, a former

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

at the synagogue *

Adolf Jellinek Adolf Jellinek ( ''Aharon Jelinek''; 26 June 1821 in Drslavice, Moravia – 28 December 1893 in Vienna) was an Austrian rabbi and scholar. After filling clerical posts in Leipzig (1845–1856), he became a preacher at the Leopoldstädter Temp ...

, a former rabbi at the synagogue * Israel Taglicht, a former rabbi at the synagogue

Memorials

File:Leopoldstädter Tempel Gedenktafel, Vienna.jpg, Memorial plaque at the site of the synagogue File:Leopoldstädter Tempel Mosaik, Vienna.jpg, Memorial mosaic at Tempelgasse File:Wien - Tempelgasse, Memorial (1).JPG, Monument showing the size of the synagogue

References

External links

1810s establishments in the Austrian Empire 1938 disestablishments in Austria 19th-century synagogues in Europe Buildings and structures demolished in 1938

Tempel Tempel (German or Dutch: ''temple'') may refer to: __NOTOC__ Surname *Wilhelm Tempel (1821–1889), German astronomer *Russel Tempel, American politician Nekpur Galla Mandi, Near Muni Mandir, Bareilly Uttar Pradesh 243001 Synagogues * Tempel Syna ...