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

The Öntőház utca Synagogue

■ The design for the tiapade oh the Öntőház synagogue (Ignác Knabe, 1865)

The fagade displays a strong influence of Ludwig Forster's synagogues in Vienna and in Budapest's Dohány utca. Its minaret-like projections were ornamented with four onion domes similar to, but smaller than, those on the Dohány utca synagogue. Above the twin arched windows in the middle of the fagade was a rosette with a star of David. Over this the fagade ended in a corbie gable forming a tympanum crowned with two stone tablets. The gates opened from the virtually unadorned side wings extending from the main fagade. The interior had a more markedly Oriental character than the fagade.

The Jews of Buda retained their institutional independence after the unification of Pest, Buda and Óbuda of 1873, and with the emergence of new residential areas around Margit Boulevard and Lágymányos, their population rose from a few hundred to almost ten thousand. As the existing institutional framework could not keep pace with that growth, the issue of unification with the Pest community was raised repeatedly. However, the Jewry of Buda, who had every reason to be proud of their history, proclaimed in 1925 that they regard it their sacred duty to preserve the independence and autonomy of their ancient congregation.

Survivors of the Holocaust were not to join the Pest community before 1949, but even the diminished community wanted to resist the amalgamation. After unification was effected under government pressure, the properties of the Buda community were nationalised.

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