Synagogue in Tarnowskie Góry

The synagogue in Tarnowskie Góry no longer exists: it was burned in 1939 and its ruins were removed in 1943. It stood on what is now the market square, at the crossing of Teofila Królika and Jana Szymały streets, and today the site is commemorated by a column-shaped monument.

Building the synagogue

The idea of building a new house of prayer arose in the 1860s, when the membership of the Tarnowskie Góry Jewish community was growing rapidly. In November 1862 the authorities of the Opole regency gave permission for construction, and in August 1863 the architect Constantin von Koschützky completed the design. The new synagogue was built on the site of the old house of prayer and solemnly opened on 1 September 1864.

What the building looked like

The brick synagogue stood on a rectangular plan and was in the Moorish style. In the eastern part was the main prayer hall, surrounded on three sides by women's galleries, and in the western part a vestibule. The façade echoed the synagogue on Tempelgasse in Vienna: it was divided into three, with a taller central part crowned by a dome and with crested parapets. A small apse adjoined the east wall, and the side elevations each had eight windows arranged on two storeys.

Destruction and commemoration

In 1939 the synagogue was burned by the Germans. In 1943 its ruins were removed to widen the street, and the building was not rebuilt after the war. The site is marked by trees.

On 19 November 2006 a column-shaped monument was unveiled here, funded by the Tarnowskie Góry Foundation for Culture and Art as part of the project Tarnogórzanie dla pamięci (Tarnowskie Góry residents for remembrance), designed by Artur Lubos and Krzysztof Mazik. The monument bears a Star of David and a quotation from the Book of Genesis (28:17) in Polish and Hebrew, carved by Rafał Trybus. In front of the obelisk a plaque with a Polish text is set into the ground. According to the description, in the evenings the outline of the former synagogue appears on the wall of one of the townhouses on the square, projected by a special floodlight.

In 2021, during renovation of the square, the brick foundations of the synagogue and the remains of a boiler room were discovered. The Silesian Voivodeship Heritage Conservator halted the work and ordered archaeological investigation. The finds included fragments of lamps, door handles with locks, glass, façade stucco, roof tiles and a sign with the name of Obergasse street. Fragments of the foundations of an older synagogue from the first half of the 19th century also survive.

Nearby

• Only 100 m away lies Plac Gwarków.
• About 200 m from this place is the Museum in Tarnowskie Góry.

Practical information

• Place: the market square in Tarnowskie Góry, at the crossing of Teofila Królika and Jana Szymały streets.
• The column-shaped monument survives; the building itself is gone.