The Brisbane Synagogue is a

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

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 ...

congregation and heritage-listed

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 at 98 Margaret Street, Brisbane City,

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It was designed by

Arthur Morry Arthur Morry (4 January 1854 – 25 May 1938) was an English architect. In 1884 he emigrated to Australia where he became a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early years Morry was born in Moreton Say, Shropshire, England, to John ...

and built from 1885 to 1886 by Arthur Midson. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

The Jewish families who settled in Queensland from the time of Separation formed the nucleus of the

Brisbane Hebrew Congregation The Brisbane Synagogue is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and heritage-listed synagogue, located at 98 Margaret Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Arthur Morry and built from 1885 to 188 ...

founded in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 1865. As an interim measure the congregation worshipped in a number of venues in Queen Street, Edward Street, George Street, and Albert Street. For a long time the stables building in the grounds of Samuel Davis's home at North Quay (later known as Aubigny), was incorrectly believed to have been the site of the first synagogue. Meanwhile they were raising money through various land speculations to purchase a site and build a Synagogue. The present site was purchased by R. B. Lewin and sold to the congregation for . In 1885 designs for a Synagogue were sought from architects and plans submitted by Edward Wells Russell were accepted. Russell however decided not to undertake the commission, but instead transferred his ownership of the design to his brother-in-law,

, who worked in the Queensland Colonial Architect's office. The foundation stone was laid on 7 July 1885 and a bottle containing coins, newspapers and documents was embedded beneath it. The foundation stone is no longer visible following the raising of the level of Margaret Street, and it is believed that the courtyard of the Synagogue was raised at the same time. This is supported by the fact that ventilated arches for the basement are now located well below ground level. Arthur Midson, a prominent building contractor, built the Synagogue for the sum of . It was finally consecrated on 18 July 1886 in a ceremony of "the most imposing and interesting character" which was "crowded to excess" by people of all faiths. The building features a large circular geometric

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

window of Oamaru stone above the Margaret Street arched doorway. The

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

lead lighting was obtained from Messrs Lyon, Cottier & Co of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The window is flanked on either side by a

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

which rose to a height of from the original ground level. The rendered brick structure, constructed on concrete foundations, contains a basement, a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and side

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s on the ground floor with a minister's retiring or robe room at the rear. In accordance with traditional Jewish religious practices the sexes are separated during worship, with a gallery level for females only. It contains 140 seats and two women's retiring rooms. The Synagogue remained largely unaltered over the years. Prior to the centenary celebrations of the Brisbane Jewish community in 1965, considerable renovations were carried out, including the installation of additional stained glass windows. Many of these were donated by congregation members whose families were murdered in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

(

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 ...

). The words "The Brisbane Synagogue" and the congregation's spiritual name "Kehilla Kedosha Sha'ari Emuna" (The Holy Congregation of the Gates of Faith) were added over the arched entry during 1967-1968. The

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

holds the Brisbane Hebrew Congregation minute books for the years 1865 to 1931.

Description

The building is constructed of stuccoed brickwork on a concrete

foundation Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

. The principal feature of the Margaret Street frontage is a doorway surmounted by a massive arch above which is a large circular tracery window of Oamaru stone. The window carries the circular motif through to the geometry of the tracery, and features leadlight panels. The front is flanked on either side by a

that becomes octagonal in its upper portion with narrow slit openings, and is topped by an octagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. The end

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

above the entry has a central circular ventilator below which is a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

also including a circular motif. The portions of the building recessed to either side of the entry also have circular tracery windows in recessed arched openings at the upper level. Below these openings on each side are a pair of Romanesque arched windows. The main stepped broad arch of the entry is supported on small Corinthian

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

with the front section at the top of the arch inscribed with the words "THE BRISBANE SYNAGOGUE". Above this is an ornamental row of

dentils A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

, and to either side geometrical rosettes. The back wall of the building also has a large circular tracery window of Oamaru stone. The side walls have large swinging windows to provide cross ventilation. The building was designed to accommodate 400 people, 260 of them on the ground floor and the remainder on the upper level

women's gallery The Women's Gallery was a collectively established and run art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, showing only the work of women, that ran for four years between 1980 and 1984. History In 1977, artist Joanna Paul developed a project called ...

which extends over the entry and down both sides. The interior is divided into a

and side

s by large octagonal columns with moulded caps and cement bases. Broad semi-circular arches span between the capitals. The ceiling consists of timber boarding with circular fretwork ventilators evenly spaced down the centre. The gallery is supported on small

trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

and is approached by two flights of

stairs Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

, one at the front and the other at the rear. The seating on both levels is stepped and faces the centre where there is a carved timber platform. An arched recess approached by stone steps is located in the end wall. This has a circular tracery window above it, and is flanked on either side by marble plaques. Brightly coloured stained glass is situated in the circular windows on the gallery level and also the arched lower openings.

Heritage listing

The Brisbane Synagogue was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Brisbane Synagogue is Brisbane's first purpose built Synagogue, and is significant as an important development in nineteenth century Jewish worship in the city. The building reflects the development of Jewish settlement in the city during the 1880s. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. The addition of windows are a rare Brisbane memorial to Jewish people who died in the Second World War. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history. Located within the foundation stone cavity are artefacts and memorabilia which have the potential for yielding information about the Jewish community in the 1880s. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The Brisbane Synagogue is significant as an example of the design work of Arthur Morry, prominent Brisbane architect, and of Arthur Midson, local building contractor. As an example of Australian-Jewish places of worship, the Brisbane Synagogue typifies the customs and liturgical practices of the Hebrew community. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. As a free-standing element with an entry porch, the building contributes to the streetscape of Margaret Street. The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. The adaption in its design of both circular and octagonal elements to a traditional plan form to create a style suitable for an inner-city Synagogue. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The building also has special significance to Brisbane's Hebrew community.

References

Attribution

External links

* * — 1886 description of the synagogue as the time of its opening * — a 1905 newspaper history of the synagogue {{Synagogues in Australia Queensland Heritage Register Heritage of Brisbane Religious buildings and structures in Brisbane Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Synagogues completed in 1886 Synagogues in Queensland Modern Orthodox synagogues in Australia 1870s establishments in Australia Margaret Street, Brisbane 19th-century synagogues in Australia Jewish organizations established in the 1870s