Szegő Dóra - Szegő György: Synagogues - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2004)

The Dessewffy utca Synagogue

■ DeaewMy utca, the iynagogue interior

The portal is also accentuated by the small terrace built above it. The rhythm provided by the alternation of one door with one window elevates the layout of the design framed by the courtyard above that of a coachmen’s stable. Set in plastered walls, the windows are framed in red-brick arches. The main axis is accentuated by the brick surface of the main front, compelling one to turn towards the portal upon entering the courtyard. The main building of the temple is divided into three units. The lobby doubles as winter prayer-room and schoolroom.

The middle section is broader than the other two. The third one, identical in proportions to the first, is the assembly room. Along the two longitudinal sides of the synagogue are women's galleries supported by slender cast-iron pillars decorated with Art Nouveau motifs. The ornamental painting of the ceiling above the galleries imitates coffers. The Ark stands beneath a niche topped with a round arch. The stone frame projecting from the wall behind the structure forms an Oriental building, with the dual tablets of the law in an aureole. Funds donated by Dr. Dezső Rakonitz paid for the Jewish symbols and geometric patterns on the ceiling and the walls. It was also Rakonitz who had the white Carrera marble bimah installed in 1936; its style combines Modernist with Art Nouveau elements. Around the bimah stand four sturdy marble columns, which serve as the pedestals of the slim metal candelabra, too. Arching over the Torah-reading ros