Stadttempel (Stadttempel) is the main synagogue of Vienna. It is located in the Innere Stadt district at Seitenstettengasse 4, which is why it is also called Seitenstettentempel (German: Seitenstettentempel): until 1938, many synagogues and prayer houses in Vienna were usually known by the names of the streets or alleys where they were located.
With the economic prosperity of some Jewish families at the end of the 18th century and the emancipation aspirations of Jews made possible by the Edict of Tolerance issued by Emperor Joseph II, a plan emerged to build a synagogue in the inner city of Vienna. This intention was supported by the Jewish community council and announced to all its members in a letter in 1819. Two proposed sites for construction were not approved by the magistrate. In 1811, Michael Lazar Bidermann and Isaac Löw Hofmann purchased a building called Pemplingerhof on what is now Seitenstettengasse for 90,000 gulden. Twelve years later, this building had to be demolished due to its poor condition, so Josef Kornhäusel, one of Vienna’s most famous architects of the time and architect to Prince Johann I of Liechtenstein, for whom he built palaces and theaters, was commissioned to build the synagogue. The laying of the foundation stone for the building, designed in the classical style, took place on December 12, 1825. The construction was supervised by the official municipal architect Jakob Heinz. The grand opening took place on April 9, 1826.
The wood engraving depicts the synagogue as it appeared on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 1876. Kornhäusel’s experience in theater construction is evident in his innovative design in the popular neoclassical style. The interior hall is oval-shaped, with 12 tall Ionic columns around the perimeter supporting a two-level women’s gallery. The central aisle leads to the combined bimah and ark on the eastern wall. This is the first instance where such a form was used in a synagogue, although an oval women’s gallery was attached to the Scuola Grande Tedesca (German synagogue) in Venice in the 18th century. While wooden vaulted ceilings were common in Eastern European synagogues, and ribbed and barrel vaults were used in stone synagogues, this is an early example of a domed Jewish worship space. Gas lighting was introduced in 1867, almost ten years before this interior style was created. This 19th-century engraving shows the interior before it underwent changes at the end of the century, including the removal of tall screens above the parapets of the women’s gallery.
In 1895 and again in 1904, Jewish architect Wilhelm Stiassny (1842–1910) redesigned elements of the interior, removing the screens from the upper galleries and adding new decorations. The synagogue was renovated in 1963 under the direction of architect Otto Niedermoser (1903–1976), who restored the building’s late 19th-century appearance. The building was not burned during Kristallnacht due to fears that the fire would spread to neighboring buildings. Stadttempel remains the main synagogue of Vienna’s Jewish community to this day.
According to the regulations of the time, non-Catholic places of worship had to be “hidden” — they were not to be visible directly from the street. Therefore, the synagogue itself is located between two five-story apartment buildings, No. 2 and No. 4, each with 14 window axes and a classical facade, built simultaneously with the synagogue for Jewish community institutions. Entrance to the synagogue is through the street building. Orthodox Jewish art historian Max Eisler (1881–1937) described the synagogue as a monument contradictory to its time.
During Kristallnacht in 1938, when all synagogues and prayer houses in Vienna — numbering over 130 — were set on fire, only the city’s main synagogue escaped destruction due to its proximity to residential buildings. However, its interior was desecrated and looted.
During the Holocaust, the building was used in Austria as a collection camp for Viennese Jews who were then deported and murdered. This is commemorated by a plaque unveiled in the lobby in September 1988.
On April 22, 1979, a 0.5-kilogram explosive device detonated in the synagogue courtyard. No one was injured, but all glass windows were shattered and significant material damage was caused. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Palestinian extremist group As-Saika. On August 29, 1981, two armed terrorists from the Palestinian extremist group Revolutionary Council “Fatah” attacked the Stadttempel, resulting in two deaths and 21 serious injuries.
Today, this synagogue, like all other Jewish institutions in Austria, is under constant police protection.
According to the regulations of the time, non-Catholic places of worship had to be “hidden” — they were not to be visible directly from the street. Therefore, the synagogue itself is located between two five-story apartment buildings, No. 2 and No. 4, each with 14 window axes and a classical facade, built simultaneously with the synagogue for Jewish community institutions[en]. Entrance to the synagogue is through the street building. Orthodox Jewish art historian Max Eisler (1881–1937) described the synagogue as a monument contradictory to its time.
Above the entrance door of the street building is an inscription in Hebrew (from Psalm 100:4):
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!”
The synagogue itself has an oval shape. The prayer room is also oval-shaped, surrounded by a wreath of 12 Ionic columns supporting the women’s section of the synagogue, topped with a Biedermeier-style dome and two lanterns. Initially, the women’s and men’s sections ended one column away from the ark with the Torah, but later they were extended to the end of the colonnade behind the ark to increase seating capacity.
A commemorative glass plaque made at the time of the synagogue’s opening, which depicts its interior in detail, is temporarily kept in the collection of the Jewish Museum of New York.
Currently, this synagogue is the main house of worship for the city’s Jewish community, numbering about 7,000 people. It also has the status of a historic monument.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadttempel
https://lifeofthesynagogue.charleston.edu/section/3-inside-the-synagogue/stadttempel-vienna/
With the economic prosperity of some Jewish families at the end of the 18th century and the emancipation aspirations of Jews made possible by the Edict of Tolerance issued by Emperor Joseph II, a plan emerged to build a synagogue in the inner city of Vienna. This intention was supported by the Jewish community council and announced to all its members in a letter in 1819. Two proposed sites for construction were not approved by the magistrate. In 1811, Michael Lazar Bidermann and Isaac Löw Hofmann purchased a building called Pemplingerhof on what is now Seitenstettengasse for 90,000 gulden. Twelve years later, this building had to be demolished due to its poor condition, so Josef Kornhäusel, one of Vienna’s most famous architects of the time and architect to Prince Johann I of Liechtenstein, for whom he built palaces and theaters, was commissioned to build the synagogue. The laying of the foundation stone for the building, designed in the classical style, took place on December 12, 1825. The construction was supervised by the official municipal architect Jakob Heinz. The grand opening took place on April 9, 1826.
The wood engraving depicts the synagogue as it appeared on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 1876. Kornhäusel’s experience in theater construction is evident in his innovative design in the popular neoclassical style. The interior hall is oval-shaped, with 12 tall Ionic columns around the perimeter supporting a two-level women’s gallery. The central aisle leads to the combined bimah and ark on the eastern wall. This is the first instance where such a form was used in a synagogue, although an oval women’s gallery was attached to the Scuola Grande Tedesca (German synagogue) in Venice in the 18th century. While wooden vaulted ceilings were common in Eastern European synagogues, and ribbed and barrel vaults were used in stone synagogues, this is an early example of a domed Jewish worship space. Gas lighting was introduced in 1867, almost ten years before this interior style was created. This 19th-century engraving shows the interior before it underwent changes at the end of the century, including the removal of tall screens above the parapets of the women’s gallery.
In 1895 and again in 1904, Jewish architect Wilhelm Stiassny (1842–1910) redesigned elements of the interior, removing the screens from the upper galleries and adding new decorations. The synagogue was renovated in 1963 under the direction of architect Otto Niedermoser (1903–1976), who restored the building’s late 19th-century appearance. The building was not burned during Kristallnacht due to fears that the fire would spread to neighboring buildings. Stadttempel remains the main synagogue of Vienna’s Jewish community to this day.
According to the regulations of the time, non-Catholic places of worship had to be “hidden” — they were not to be visible directly from the street. Therefore, the synagogue itself is located between two five-story apartment buildings, No. 2 and No. 4, each with 14 window axes and a classical facade, built simultaneously with the synagogue for Jewish community institutions. Entrance to the synagogue is through the street building. Orthodox Jewish art historian Max Eisler (1881–1937) described the synagogue as a monument contradictory to its time.
During Kristallnacht in 1938, when all synagogues and prayer houses in Vienna — numbering over 130 — were set on fire, only the city’s main synagogue escaped destruction due to its proximity to residential buildings. However, its interior was desecrated and looted.
During the Holocaust, the building was used in Austria as a collection camp for Viennese Jews who were then deported and murdered. This is commemorated by a plaque unveiled in the lobby in September 1988.
On April 22, 1979, a 0.5-kilogram explosive device detonated in the synagogue courtyard. No one was injured, but all glass windows were shattered and significant material damage was caused. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Palestinian extremist group As-Saika. On August 29, 1981, two armed terrorists from the Palestinian extremist group Revolutionary Council “Fatah” attacked the Stadttempel, resulting in two deaths and 21 serious injuries.
Today, this synagogue, like all other Jewish institutions in Austria, is under constant police protection.
According to the regulations of the time, non-Catholic places of worship had to be “hidden” — they were not to be visible directly from the street. Therefore, the synagogue itself is located between two five-story apartment buildings, No. 2 and No. 4, each with 14 window axes and a classical facade, built simultaneously with the synagogue for Jewish community institutions[en]. Entrance to the synagogue is through the street building. Orthodox Jewish art historian Max Eisler (1881–1937) described the synagogue as a monument contradictory to its time.
Above the entrance door of the street building is an inscription in Hebrew (from Psalm 100:4):
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!”
The synagogue itself has an oval shape. The prayer room is also oval-shaped, surrounded by a wreath of 12 Ionic columns supporting the women’s section of the synagogue, topped with a Biedermeier-style dome and two lanterns. Initially, the women’s and men’s sections ended one column away from the ark with the Torah, but later they were extended to the end of the colonnade behind the ark to increase seating capacity.
A commemorative glass plaque made at the time of the synagogue’s opening, which depicts its interior in detail, is temporarily kept in the collection of the Jewish Museum of New York.
Currently, this synagogue is the main house of worship for the city’s Jewish community, numbering about 7,000 people. It also has the status of a historic monument.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadttempel
https://lifeofthesynagogue.charleston.edu/section/3-inside-the-synagogue/stadttempel-vienna/
