Synagogue

In Trenčín, the seat of the county of the same name, Jews appeared in larger numbers in the 17th and 18th centuries. They fled from Moravia to escape the persecution of Jews there. They settled outside the city walls, in the vicinity - this area has now become part of the historic city center. By the last third of the 19th century, their number had reached about a quarter of the city's population. After the 1868-69 Budapest Jewish Congress, the Jews of Trenčín joined the status quo ante trend. Only about a fifth of the community survived the Holocaust of 1944. Today, barely a dozen people make up the believing Jews of Trenčín. ; The city's present-day synagogue, which stands in a square in the historic city center, was consecrated in 1913. It was designed by the Berlin-educated architect Richard Scheibner. Its style mixes Byzantine and Art Nouveau elements with the most modern architectural trends of the time. The creator tried to minimize the external decorative elements as much as possible, while preserving the classical, monumental forms. The axially symmetrical, approximately square-shaped building has facades of equal design in all directions. Its most dominant element is a huge dome covered with metal sheets, which towers over the central part of the building, the church square. The original furnishings of the synagogue were destroyed after 1945. According to photographs, the entire wall of the interior was decorated with paintings, of which only the paintings of the dome are visible today. On three sides of the square church square – as a place for female worshippers – storey galleries resting on reinforced concrete consoles extend into the space. The monumental whitewashed space is thus – in addition to the dome – brought color by the church’s decorative glass windows. ; The synagogue is now a modern art exhibition space, after a complete renovation. A small Jewish prayer room has been created in the back. The building is part of the cultural route presenting the Jewish heritage of Slovakia.