Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest is 120 years old – Photos

The Dohány Street Synagogue in the heart of the capital is the finest centre of the Jewish community in the Carpathian Basin. The building was dreamt and built by the Austrian Ludwig Förster from Vienna who created a traditional but at the same time extraordinary synagogue for Hungary.

PestBuda reported the full story about the Hungarian Jewish community and the magnificent synagogue itself. The most populated Jewish community in Central Europe is located in Budapest. Because of this fact, many synagogues were built in the country in the past decades, which are occupied by Jewish people regularly. Apparently, historians believe that Jewish people came into the area of Hungary during Roman times two thousand years ago as archaeologists found remains in Aquincum, which was probably built to serve as a synagogue in that time.

During the Middle Ages and the Turkish reign, most of the members of the Jewish community lived in Buda. In the 15th century, King Matthias even built a magnificent synagogue for these people. In 1686, when Hungary was reborn after chasing away the Turkish, the Jewish community found peace in Óbuda (part of the capital).

In the 19th century, the biggest Jewish centre was born in the capital. Their traditional buildings did not only serve religious purposes but educational and cultural ones as well.

The first synagogue of Budapest was established in 1770. It was operated from a salesman’s house, but because it was not official, it was closed. Later, Joseph II allowed opportunities to practise the Jewish religion in the country. In 1830, there were approximately five thousand Jewish people in Budapest. It was time to build a place where all the people of the community could get together.