Szegő Dóra - Szegő György: Synagogues - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2004)
The Great Synagogue in Dohány utca
pulpit decorated with an Oriental battlement. Frigyes Feszi and Ignác Wechselmann, the latter commissioned by Forster’s studio, were invited to participate in the final phase of the construction. Although Förster had prepared designs for it, the sanctuary holding the Ark was created by Feszi. The Oriental-looking, vaulted apse hiding the Ark is likely to have come from Försters version; this includes the wreath of sunrays set in a rosette with the Lord’s letter-symbol in the middle. This was made by Feszi, who also designed the entire Eastern wall. The ornamental railing above the slender pillars and the decoration of the Ark doors point directly to Frigyes Feszl's Vigadó building. The wooden Ark itself is dominated by the colours white and gold. Forming an organic unit with the sanctuary and creating the impression of an element of the ornamentation is the organ (Karl Hesse's work), that important innovation of Neologue synagogues. Continuing the outlines of the organ is a striped moulding echoing the geometric frieze on the exterior. The Ark complex is emblematically crowned by the massive bulk of the elaborately-serrated onion dome that rises above the organ. An Eastern flavour is imparted to it by the Islamic-style ornamentation of the cast-iron candelabra rising on either side. Also worthy of note is Feszl's wooden bimah with the lifting top. The cast-iron pillars, vaults, parapets, and cornices of the building are richly decorated with painted and sculpted motifs in Oriental style. The ornamental painting of the walls is simple—instead of real or imitation marble, they are only covered with coloured cardboard. The ornamentation of the coffered ceiling and the ceilings of the galleries is of a more balanced character. As a result, the interior makes a more puritanical impression than the facade. This is only partly a calculated decision. What experts suspect to have led to the less-than-uniform artistic appearance of the interior and the exterior must have been insufficient funds and a disagreement between proprietors and architects. The design better suited to the more puritanical tastes of the twentieth century was then a result of multiple ideas regarding the architecture and the hardships besetting the construction of the building. Rising above the prominent rabbis of the synagogue was Low Schwab, elected Chief Rabbi in 1836. As a cautious reformer, Schwab preached in literary German rather than Yiddish. Despite the fact that he did not speak Hungarian himself, he encouraged his congregation to embrace the language as a part of cultural assimilation. He worked as the rabbi of his entire community without regard for factional allegiance. He presided over the building committee of the Dohány Synagogue, but he did not live to see its consecration. Invited from Stettin to be the first Chief Rabbi of the finished Neologue synagogue was Alajos Farkas 30
