!!!Synagogen

Synagogues, Jewish community houses of worship, in Austria documented 
from the mid-13th century onwards (Krems, Wiener Neustadt, Vienna), 
synagogues from the mid-14th century still extant at Bruck an der 
Leitha and Korneuburg. The first synagogue in Vienna was located on 
what is today Judenplatz square, Vienna 1, and the second in Vienna's 
2nd district, Alexander Poch-Platz (today, the church of St. Leopold). 
The "City Temple" (central synagogue) in Seitenstettengasse in the 1st 
district, which was built between 1824 and 1826, is still in use. 
Construction of synagogues was subject to permission by the protector 
of Jewish communities. Stylistically, synagogues from various periods 
were similar to the Christian churches of the period in question, but 
they were invariably orientated towards the East and furnished in line 
with Jewish law. Most synagogues were owned by Jewish communities. 
When Jews were expelled, the synagogues were either destroyed (Vienna 
1421),converted into churches (Wiener Neustadt 1497, Vienna 1671) or 
used for public purposes (Bruck an der Leitha 1496). During the 
inter-war period, there were some 35 synagogues in Austria (25 in 
Vienna),not counting more than 100 prayer-houses and private meeting 
rooms. About half of them were destroyed during the  November Pogrom 
and most of the others were razed or used for secular purposes (e.g. 
as a fire-fighting centre in the Vorarlberg community of Hohenems). 
Today the Jewish communities in Vienna, Graz, Linz and Salzburg, the 
Austrian Jewish Museum and a number of religious societies have their 
own synagogues or prayer-rooms.

!Literature
P. Genee, Wiener Synagogen 1825-1938, 1987; idem, 
Synagogen in Oesterreich, 1992; Salomon Sulzer - Kantor, Komponist, 
Reformer, exhibition catalogue, Bregenz 1991.


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