Synagogues in Recent Serbian Architecture

Synagogues were, and still are, a strong spiritual center and the focus of the religious life of Jewish communities. Their primary function was to provide a place for the faithful and a space for education and other various functions. In the more recent history of Serbian architecture, synagogue buildings hold a distinguished position as important religious and cultural complexes, and for that reason they are the subject of this study.

In the territory of modern Serbia, a few dozens of these structures were originally built to serve the religious function of the Sephardic or Ashkenazi rites. Most synagogues were constructed in the region of Vojvodina, especially in Banat and Bačka; there are a few representative examples in the Belgrade area and today’s Zemun; the more recent ones were built in the peripheral regions of Serbia, such as the city of Niš. The majority of synagogues were systematically destroyed during the Nazi persecution of the Jews during World War II, and their losses continued due to historical circumstances even after the national liberation in the fall of 1944. However, several synagogues were preserved and still exist. Only one of them, the Ashkenazi synagogue in Belgrade, has retained its primary function. Relevant historical sources, archival and photographic material, blueprints, and written accounts document the existence of many synagogues in Serbia as testaments to their high artistic and historical value. They are indispensable in understanding the development and importance of religious architecture of the well-respected and prosperous Jewish communities in Serbia.

Synagogues built during the period from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries were constructed in unbroken continuity. During that period, they reached their typological maturity, which ushered in the golden age of synagogue architecture. Their development reached an apex just before the onset of WWII. During this period, certain magnificent structures were created by both foreign and native architects. The study of a synagogue is one of the more complex issues in national historiography. The research on and examination of these structures must focus on simple buildings as well as examples of signature structures. The latter provide important landmarks in the urban and social landscapes of a city.¹

In the rich typological development of synagogues, one can differentiate the following basic types of buildings: simply structured synagogues, based on a type of a house either 1) rural or 2) urban; the more complex types, modeled on church architecture styles, such as 3) Byzantine, 4) Roman Catholic, and 5) Protestant; 6) synagogues designed to emulate Solomon’s Temple; 7) a palacial type; and finally, 8) a factory hall type.² Between the late 18th to early 20th century, synagogues were built as longitudinal-type structures. They can be simple buildings, with undivided interior spaces; more complex, of the nine-part type; or a three-nave basilica. Also, some were inspired by a central plan such as an octagonal or square base surmounted by a dome over the central part and/or with four smaller domes in the corners of the buildings. The bema and the gallery space were accessed via one or more stairways.

Façades show influences of various historical styles, from the late baroque, classical and romanesque Rundbogen, neo-Gothic, oriental, eclectic concepts, and finally, dazzling Art Nouveau forms and modernist aesthetics. The interior also received special attention, with an emphasis on the treatment of the ceiling and dome. The application of an abundance of lavish ornamentation, stucco decoration, and the use of stained-glass windows characterized the interior of the synagogue. However, there are various examples showing much simpler interior spaces.

In the urban settings of most synagogues and their locations, we can identify freestanding buildings erected on a plot of land, either individually or as part of a complex with accompanying facilities. There were other examples of synagogues that were set back from the street in accordance with the street boundary line, following Habsburg building regulations. The requirement was that the main façade of a building always face the street. Due to this, the bema of a synagogue could not always face in the direction of the Holy City [End Page 128...