F. Mentényi Klára szerk.: Műemlékvédelmi Szemle 1998/2. szám Az Országos Műemléki Felügyelőség tájékoztatója (Budapest, 1998)

KIÁLLÍTÁS - Dávid Ferenc: Baumann Lipót építész 1860-1932. Kiállítás a Magyar Zsidó Múzeumban

Ferenc DÁVID LIPÓT BAUMHORN ARCHITECT 1860-1932 Exhibition in the Hungarian Jewish Museum When at the end of the 1880's Lipót Baumhorn's career started in most CentralEuropean towns synagogue had already been built, with large and expressive ones among them. Synagogue, as an urban architectural type had a rich and diverse past. Architects of synagogues in historicism were investigating eastern culture, Byzantine and Muslim churches. The synagogue type formed by Lipót Baumhorn was created as a result of the activity of the third generation: central domed building not imitating the oriental type with archaeological accuracy, but using it as a means of expression. The town of Szeged was the centre of Jewish emancipation as a result of Lipót Low's activity, who was the central figure of the struggle for the 1867 year law proclaiming the civil equality of Jews. His son, Immanuel, the outstanding Judaist, learned rabbi was spiritual father of the synagogue planned by Baumhorn. This might be considered as his main work, a slightly elongated central building. It is a cube divided by flat projecting parts, with a facade of high gables enriched with turrets. Within the facade line the high dome is an independent body. It is held by four slim columns and is covered with glass. This well-lit central space has a calm, monumental effect and is suggesting the same effect concerning the side rooms formed and connected in a refined manner. The interior of the synagogue is ebony coloured with blue borders, and texts in gilt framework. Symbolical representations on the walls and glass windows drafted by Immanuel Lőw are summing up traditions in connection with feasts and the synagogue, with a purpose more than decorating: they intend to give a meaning and an interpretation of the main forms of the building. The exhibition organised by György Szegő and András Hadik was rich in documents and plans and the visitor could meet several buildings with formal characteristics near to the architect Ödön Lechner. The synagogues of Cegléd. Makó, or Budapest, Aréna road can be mentioned from among the ones with flatter facade and stricter mass. In some cases the architect's flexibility is worth attention, like in the case of Budapest, Csáky street synagogue formed of a block or that of Bethlen square placed in a public building. His important late work is the synagogue of Gyöngyös, rendering cubist tendencies of the period in its own way, reminding us to the mausoleum of Samarkand and desert fortresses.