Obj. ID: 10135
Jewish Architecture Great Synagogue in Sibiu, Romania
Jews settled in Sibiu in the mid-19th century. There were 5 and 9 Jews in 1850 and 1857 respectively, and 168 Jews in 1869.[1] By the turn of the 20th century, however, the community was much larger and numbered 875 Jews in 1900 and 1,307 in 1910.[2] Such a large community needed a synagogue, which could reflect its size and prosperity.
The Great Synagogue in Sibiu was erected in 1899 according to the design of a Hungarian architect Ferenc Szalay. Although the synagogue is well preserved, is was not used for worship in the last 40 years. The small Jewish community today uses for prayer a room in the community building behind the synagogue.
The Great Synagogue is a large building with an impressive western façade facing one of the main streets of Sibiu. The façade features Neo-Romanesque decorations and is surmounted by the Tablets of the Law.
The magnificent prayer hall expresses the taste of the Orthodox current among Hungarian Jews: the bimah is situated in the center of the hall and the women’s gallery has a mehitzah – arches with curtains, which prevent men from seeing women. Four wooden columns are placed at the corners of the bimah, a feature popular in Hungarian synagogues. The eastern wall of the hall is richly decorated with murals.
[1] Ladislau Gyémánt, Evreii din Transilvania în epoca emanciparii (1790-1867) = The Jews of Transylvania in the Age of Emancipation (1790-1867) (Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedica, 2000), 237.
[2] Traian Rotariu, Maria Semeniuc, and Elemer Mezei, Recensământul din 1900. Transilvania (Bucharest: Editura Staff, 1999), 539; Traian Rotariu, Maria Semeniuc, and Elemer Mezei, Recensământul din 1910. Transilvania (Bucharest: Editura Staff, 1999), 521.
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Aristide Streja and Lucian Schwarz, Sinagogi din România (Bucharest, 1996) = Synagogues of Romania ([Bucharest]: Hasefer Publishing House, 1997), p. 128, 190, ills. 108-109.
http://synagogues360.org/synagogues.php?ident=romania_004 http://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/galleries/romania-photo-galleries/sibiu-romania