Dolní Kounice Synagogue

Dolní Kounice Synagogue
Czech: Synagoga v Dolních Kounicích
Northern side of the former synagogue
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism (former)
Rite	Nusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue (1655–1939) Jewish museum (since 1994)
Status	Closed (as a synagogue); Repurposed
Location
Location	U synagogy Street, Dolní Kounice, South Moravian Region
Country	Czech Republic
Location of the former synagogue, now museum, in the Czech Republic
Geographic coordinates	49°4′12″N 16°27′49″E
Architecture
Style	Baroque
Date established	1581 (as a congregation)
Completed	1655
Materials	Stone

The Dolní Kounice Synagogue (Czech: Synagoga v Dolních Kounicích) is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located in Dolní Kounice in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. The building was completed in 1655 and was used as a synagogue by the Ashkenazi congregation until 1939. The building has been used as a Jewish museum since 1994.

History

First traces of Jewish settlement in Dolní Kounice are from half of 15th century. The first written mention of a synagogue here comes from 1581. The old synagogue was located on eastern part of the village and was destroyed by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War in 1645.

A new one has been built in the middle of the new ghetto in 1652–1655. It was built in the Baroque style and is one of the oldest synagogues in Moravia. The building has rectangular ground plan and two floors. In the middle of the 19th century, new tract was added and used to extends tribune for women.

In the early 1940s, Nazis closed down the religious services and moved the decorations to the Jewish Museum in Prague. After the war the building was used as storehouse. In 1991 it was returned, as a part of restitutions, to the Jewish community in Brno. In 1994 the former synagogue was reconstructed with the support of the World Monuments Fund and commenced operation as a museum. The synagogue hosts small collection of Jewish historical artefacts and art exhibitions.

Gallery

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See also

• History of the Jews in the Czech Republic

Further reading

• Klenovský, Jaroslav (1997). Židovská obec v Dolních Kounicích [Jewish community in Dolní Kounice] (in Czech). Dolní Kounice town. p. 44.

External links

• "About Dolní Kounice". Short history of Jewish district in Dolní Kounice. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013.