Pécsi Zsinagóga

The Romantic-style synagogue on Kossuth tér, consecrated in 1869, the largest synagogue in Transdanubia, with an exhibition on the history of the Jews of Baranya.

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About the museum

The Jewish community of Pécs initially gathered in a modest prayer house near today’s Ferencesek utcája. The growing community needed a larger synagogue: part of the plot was bought in 1860, and the foundation stone was laid in 1865. The building was designed by Feszl Frigyes, architect of the Budapest Vigadó, and construction was led by Kauser Lipót. The synagogue was consecrated as a Neolog temple on 22 July 1869.

The building is in a Romantic, eclectic style, combining Neo-Romanesque, Neo-Gothic and Moorish elements. The façade is framed by two onion-domed towers, and on top of them are the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments; according to the inscription, the prayer house is open to all peoples. The three-aisled interior is articulated by decorative columns and arcades, and the ground floor is surrounded by a U-shaped women’s gallery. Alongside the stained-glass windows depicting biblical scenes and the carved, gilded Torah ark, the Angster organ built in 1869 (two manuals, 24 stops, 1,534 pipes) stands out.

During the Second World War the building was not hit by a bomb, but as a result of the deportations the community of some four thousand shrank to barely three hundred, and the synagogue fell into disrepair. In the 1980s it was closed for safety reasons; after renovation begun in 1999, it reopened in 2005. The synagogue is still a functioning prayer house, and inside it there is an exhibition on the history of the Jews of Baranya.

Highlights

Romantic-eclectic building designed by Feszl Frigyes
The 1869 Angster organ
Carved, gilded Torah ark and stained-glass windows with biblical scenes
Exhibition on the history of the Jews of Baranya