Uzhhorod Synagogue Explained

Uzhhorod Synagogue
Native Name:Ukrainian: Ужгородська Синагога
Image Upright:1.4
Rite:Nusach Ashkenaz
Festivals:-->
Organizational Status:-->
Location:Uzhhorod
Country:Ukraine
Map Type:Ukraine
Map Size:250
Map Relief:1
Coordinates:48.6225°N 22.3011°W
Architecture Type:Synagogue architecture
Year Completed:1904
Date Destroyed:-->
Dome Quantity:One
Elevation Ft:-->

The Uzhhorod Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Uzhhorod, in the present day Zakarpattia Oblast of western Ukraine. When it was established in 1904, it was located within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The congregation worshipped in the Ashkenazi rite.

Acquired by the Soviet Government in 1947, the former synagogue building has been used as a concert hall.

Synagogue

The synagogue was completed and dedicated on July 27, 1904. It was then part of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The building was designed by the architects Gyula Papp and Ferenc Szabolcs,[1] in a flamboyant Romantic style that boldly intermingled Byzantine Revival and Moorish Revival architectural elements. The image of the Star of David on the central balcony of the building façade was a notable feature.[2]

Concert hall

In 1944, after the destruction of the Carpathian Jews, the fate of the synagogue changed. In 1947, the Soviet government gave the synagogue to the USSR Ministry of Culture,[2] and the building has served as Uzhhorod's concert hall, prized for its acoustics. It has housed the Regional Philharmonic Society with the Transcarpathian Folk Choir.

All Jewish symbols were removed from the building,[2] although there was a plaque on the facade commemorating the 85,000 Jews from Zakarpattia Oblast who were murdered in The Holocaust., plans were announced to restore the glass dome with its mosaics.[3] However, by 2019 those plans were yet to be realised, with a local congregation occasionally using the former synagogue for Jewish events.[4]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Glass Mosaic Ceiling of Uzhgorod Synagogue to be Restored . 29 January 2016 . Jewish Heritage Europe . 13 April 2015 .
  2. Web site: Uzhgorod Synagogue . IGotoWorld.com . n.d. . March 28, 2024 .
  3. Web site: Унікальна закарпатська філармонія . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/zoWxI5xYiJw . 2021-12-13 . live . UK . 21 channel . 7 April 2015 . 28 June 2016 . YouTube.
  4. Web site: Kozloff, Nikolas . A Forgotten Moorish Synagogue Amidst Uzhgorod’s Tangled Ethnic History . NKOZ photography . 2 March 2019 . 29 March 2024 .