The Dózsa György Street Synagogue (), or Angyalföld Synagogue, is a former

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

located on Dózsa György Street (formerly Aréna Street), in

Újlipótváros Újlipótváros ("New Leopold Town") is a neighborhood in the 13th List of districts in Budapest, district of Budapest, Hungary. It is located north to Lipótváros ("Leopold Town") neighbourhood of the 5th District, with the Grand Boulevard (Budap ...

, in the XIII District of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Completed as a synagogue in 1909, used as a concentration camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and subsequently for profaned use, the building was repurposed in 1984 as an indoor sports center by the Budapest Honvéd Sports Association as a

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

hall. The congregation continues to worship in the cultural hall located on the site; led by

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Peter Deutsch.

History

The synagogue was built to serve the Jews of northern Pest after the failure of the Lipótvár synagogue's plan next to the then Aréna Street (now György Dózsa Street). The plot, opposite the former Jewish cemetery, was on the other side of the road and was purchased on February 27, 1907. Construction was started this year according to the plans of

Lipót Baumhorn Lipót Baumhorn (, , 28 December 1860, Kisbér – 8 July 1932, Kisbér) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian architect of Jewish heritage, the most influential Hungarian synagogue architect in the first half of the 20th century. He drew blueprints ...

, and the synagogue was completed in 1909. Dr. Hevesi Simon and Wilheim Joachim inaugurated the house of worship. At the end of World War II, during 1944–45, the building was used as a collection camp, and after the fighting ended, it was once again a prayer house. However, by the end of the 1940s, the Jewish community, which had shrunk as a result of emigration, had used the synagogue as a storehouse in the former cultural hall. Ownership of the building was awarded to the Honvéd Budapest in 1984; after the renovation and rebuilding, its boxing and fencing department was established here.

The building

The building of the synagogue consists of a central square in the middle, a foyer and a shrine. The central square is covered by a circular dome. Out of a total of 800 seats, 406 are on the ground floor and the other on the first floor. The interior walls were decorated with geometric motifs in yellow, blue, red and brown. After the Honvéd took over the building, it was renovated and rebuilt internally. During the reconstruction carried out according to the plans of László Benczúr, two new slabs were installed, which provided three levels of training. During the design of the floor, the new elements could be demolished without damaging the old elements of the building. During the renovation, the old colors were used to decorate the interior, but only the geometric shapes, the original sacred symbols, were not restored.

Gallery

Dózsa György úti zsinagóga1.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga10.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga14.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga16.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga23.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga8.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga21.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga3.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga17.jpg, Dózsa György úti zsinagóga25.jpg,

Sources

External links

* * {{Synagogues in Hungary 13th District of Budapest 20th-century synagogues in Hungary Art Nouveau architecture in Hungary Art Nouveau synagogues Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Hungary Ashkenazi synagogues Former synagogues in Hungary Lipót Baumhorn buildings Orthodox synagogues in Hungary Synagogues completed in 1909 Synagogues in Budapest

History

The building

Gallery

See also

Sources

External links