Óbuda Synagogue

Andreas Landesherr

1820–1821

Photograph of building exterior with five columns.
The Óbuda Synagogue in Budapest is the oldest functioning synagogue in Hungary. The building was inaugurated in 1821. Its restrained, neoclassical aesthetic was consistent with popular architectural trends in nineteenth-century Hungary, distinguished only by Hebrew inscriptions on the outer façade of the building. The Jewish community of Óbuda, at the time of the synagogue inauguration, had some 3,210 Jews, which was more than forty percent of the local population. It was a “golden age” for the community; the synagogue, with its Corinthian columns, was heralded by the Archduke Joseph (1797–1847) as “undoubtedly the most beautiful one of all similar Jewish religious establishments in the Austrian monarchy.”

Credits

Gross Family Collection.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.

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Creator Bio

Andreas Landesherr

András Landherr was a Hungarian architect active between 1809 and 1831. Little is known about his life, and his dates of birth and death are unknown. He designed residential houses and at least two synagogues in Budapest, in Óbuda and Hunfaly.

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