4/5 Daniel T. 1 year ago on Google • 15 reviews
Visited
27/5/22
on
a
tour
and
28/5/22
for
Sabbath
morning
service.
Anybody
visiting
Vienna
in
order
to
see
Jewish
things
and
understand
how
the
Jews
fit
into
Vienna,
then
and
now,
has
to
visit
the
Stadttempel.
This
beautiful
late-classical
period
piece
sits
unheralded
behind
a
facade
of
normal
house
fronts,
and
was
built
in
this
way
to
avoid
ostentation
in
a
time
when
Jews
were
not
yet
free
to
do
in
Vienna
as
they
pleased.
The
interior
betrays
the
fact
that
its
principal
architect
had
significant
experience
with
theatres.
As
a
result,
the
acoustic
is
excellent
for
diffusion
of
sound
to
all
parts.
The
building
survived
the
destruction
visited
on
other
synagogues
on
Kristallnacht
in
November
1938
because
it
was
part
of
a
contiguous
building
line
and,
at
least
back
then,
the
Nazis
were
not
willing
to
torch
a
neighbourhood
in
order
to
gut
a
synagogue.
The
interior
has
of
course
been
restored
and
the
furnishings
are
modern
(though
they
could
be
a
bit
more
comfortable).
The
guided
tour
focused
on
the
history
of
the
building,
and
of
the
core
events
in
the
community
history
during
that
time.
There
was
one
utterly
glaring
omission,
for
those
who
know
about
such
things,
and
this
costs
a
star
in
my
review.
There
was
absolutely
no
mention,
either
in
the
guided
tour
or
in
any
display
in
the
building,
of
the
synagogue’s
main
legacy:
the
synagogue
music
of
Salomon
Sulzer.
Sulzer
revolutionised
the
content
and
function
of
the
cantorial
service,
and
since
his
pioneering
work
starting
there
in
the
1820s
all
European
and
wider-world
Ashkenazi
synagogue
services
have
been
similarly
reshaped
and
transformed.
It
would
have
been
fitting
to
see
a
proper
memorial
to
his
work
in
the
synagogue
lobby.
If
taking
the
tour,
get
there
early,
as
the
security
check
is
rigorous,
and
bring
i/d.
The
tour
itself
is
barely
40
minutes,
though
the
guide
will
stay
to
answer
questions
afterwards.
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