Obj. ID: 25166
Jewish Architecture Synagogue in Gouda, The Netherlands
A former Baptist church was bought by the Jewish community of Gouda in the year 1798. The building was reused as a synagogue but had to be demolished in 1823 because of structural deterioration. A new synagogue was built on the same site and was consecrated in 1827. The front façade features eclectic architectural elements. This façade is provided with Neo-Gothic pointed arched windows and a Neo-Classical ornamented entrance. The original inscription above the main entrance was lost after a subsequent reuse of the building and therefore contains the inscription ‘De Vrije Evangelische Gemeente’.
After the Second World War, the Jewish community of Gouda was too small to sustain their own synagogue. The building was sold in 1950 and only the women’s gallery remained in the interior of the building. The design of both the original women’s gallery and the Torah ark was probably influenced by the designs of the furniture in the synagogue in Leiden. The pointed arched windows, located near the former Torah ark, were walled up to suit the new church organ.
2 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)