Szegő Dóra - Szegő György: Synagogues - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2004)
The Dessewffy utca Synagogue
oughfare established a connection in a grand, metropolitan style between the Inner City and the City Park. Defying the plans of the municipality, the Jewish quarter around Király utca had spread to the other side of the new Sugárút, too. This neighbourhood was populated by assimilated middle-class families. Representatives of the higher echelons of the bourgeoisie moved into the multiple-bedroom apartments on the street-side front, while those of a lower social status occupied the smaller flats, each accessible from outdoor gangways, in the central, and backrow courtyards of the residential buildings characteristic of the area. Not long after the consecration of the Dohány temple, such simpler Jewish inhabitants of the Terézváros as its coachmen and porters began to attend their own prayer-house, a converted stable, in Dessewffy utca. The modest facility was made suitable for its purpose by the Porters' Sick Fund and Self- Aid Society. The building almost fills the entire interior courtyard, featuring a circular window and blind arcades. The L-shaped staircase of the women’s gallery was built in one with the partition wall of the adjoining building. Downstairs, the portal cuts off the corner of the courtyard diagonally, which enables those entering the temple to stand nearly opposite the main entrance on the side. ■ Deaewify utca. the courtyard frapade 43
