Jewish Budapest comes to life again

In the late C18th the royal court of Hungary granted the Jews freedom of rel­ig­ion, trading rights against payment of special taxes, and permission to live any­where in Obuda - privileges granted only in Obuda (not in Buda or Pest)! Later, Count Ödön Zichy II (1811–1894) and his wife were noted for their dedication to promoting art and industry in Hungary. He was particularly famous for founding the Oriental Museum in Vienna and the countess was much loved for invit­ing Jewish families to live on Zichy family property in the district. 

By the time the Obuda synagogue was built in 1820, the local Jewish community had become the largest Jewish community in Hungary. This new synag­ogue was thought of as one of the prettiest synagogues in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Obuda synagogue

built 1820, sold in 1970 and reopened 2010.

Within one generation, in 1850, the Obuda population was one third Jewish and two thirds Christian. Obuda might have been the smallest of the three towns that were united in 1873 to form Budapest, but it proudly took its place in the newly cosmopolitan city. Only after Jews were allowed to move into the action-packed city of Pest did the Jewish community of Obuda shrink. However even after WW1, the Obuda district was still 10% Jewish.

An Obuda synagogue had been built in 1737, and although not much is known about it, this first building possibly had a copper roof. But a great deal is known about the second synagogue which was built on the same site in 1820. The second synagogue, bigger and fancier that the first, was designed in a classical style by architect And­reas Landesherr. I assume the synagogue board of directors asked for a pediment and six Corinthian columns on the exterior, to look like a classical Greek temple. Carved classical ornamentation, that could have been found on any C19th building, was only partially Judaicised by adding the Ten Commandments. And there were two tiers of round-arched windows along both sides.

But inside, the building looked every inch a synagogue. As the book Jewish Budapest: monuments, rites, history has shown the bimah/table for reading the scrolls had four corner columns in the much loved Egyptian Revival taste. Each obelisk was well decorated with carved, classical ornament, capped by a sphere capped by an eagle. The ark for the scrolls was flanked by classical columns, and topped by a crown Tablets of the Law. The women's gallery ran along the northern and western walls.

Let us leap forward into the 20th century. The capital city, Budapest, was 23% Jewish in 1939, Pest more so than Buda. It was a thriving, educated and cultivated community.

Despite the Holocaust, and the mass emigration of Jews and others in 1956, Hungary is still home to around 100,000 Jews, a very large community by post-WW2 stand­ards. Most live in Budapest, which is enjoying a revival of Jewish culture. Yet in the 1970s, the Jewish community wasn’t using the Obuda synag­ogue any longer and so the building was sold. Used for a long time as a TV studio, the lovely old building was not re-inaugurated as a synagogue until recently.

Districts of Budapest
On the west side of the Danube, you can see Buda.
East of the Danube, you can see Pest. Note districts 6 & 7
To the north you can find Obuda, in district 3.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, a Jewish Quarter started to form in Pest, particularly in the 6th and 7th districts (see map). I have never seen the annual Jewish Summer Festival, but locals say it is an important sign of the modern Hungarian Jewish community’s ability to live a public life. The centre of the festival is the elegant Dohány Street Central Synagogue (1859) in the city’s former Jewish Quarter, along with the Jewish coffee and cake shops, restaurants and music centres.

When Obuda synagogue’s was reopened in 2010, it was an important part of that year’s Jewish Summer Festival. Music had always been central to the synagogue’s fame, so it was appropriate that The Boban Markovic Orchestra, a Serbian gypsy brass band ensemble, would participate in the rededication of the building. [I love the idea that, pre-WW1, both Franz Liszt and Camille Saint-Saëns played the synagogue's organ].

Visitors also might like to consider the Jewish Budapest Sightseeing Tour. It starts along the Danube river, then St Stephen’s park, the World War II victims’ memorial, Dohány Street Synagogue and New Leopold district, the Jewish garden, the Jewish Museum, the Tree of Life and the Temple of the Heroes.

My husband's favourite coffee house/music bar in the heart of Jewish Budapest is Spinoza House. He says it reminds him of the vibrant inter-war era that he loved. Of course he wasn't born till after the war, so I presume he is reliving his parents' memories :)