Obj. ID: 25273
Jewish Architecture Synagogue in Middelburg, The Netherlands
The merchant Benjamin Levi commissioned a synagogue (dated ca. 1704) in the backyard of his private residence. The somewhat square-shaped building was expanded on the east side in order to accommodate the place of the Torah ark. The western and eastern walls of the building contain large rounded arched windows which flank a smaller tondo window. The women’s gallery is situated at the southern end of the interior and is supported by columns. A mikveh was created nearby the synagogue and can be dated back to the year 1757.
The synagogue was used a storage space during the Second World War. During the liberation of the Netherlands, the building was heavily damaged by the impact of a grenade explosion in 1944. The next fifty years, the former synagogue was left in its ruinous state. The Stichting Synagoge Middelburg commissioned the restoration of the building which was executed by the architect J. H. Sinke. After the restoration was finished, the synagogue was consecrated for religious services in the year 1994.
7 image(s)
sub-set tree:
van Agt, J.F., Edward van Voolen. Synagogen in Nederland (Hilversum: Gooi and Sticht, 1988)
van Voolen, Edward, Paul Meijer. Synagogen van Nederland (Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 2006)