Burnt-down synagogue

The Liberec synagogue was built in 1887-1889 by the renowned construction company Sachers and Gärtner following plans drawn up by architect K. König of Vienna. As it was located in the city centre and especially owing to its neo-Renaissance architecture the building was a truly monumental sight and served its purpose until 1938, when it was burnt down by the Nazis during the tragic "Kristallnacht".

New Jewish prayer house

Nowadays, there is a new synagogue on this site in Liberec, in the shape of a half Star of David and with a frontage that resembles the Wailing Wall. A somewhat inconspicuous strip of Hebrew text is carved in one line around the facade of the entire building. It is an excerpt from the Old Testament Book of Jonah. The floor plan of the original prayer room is marked out in a different colour in the paving of the small square that now lies in front of the building. The Liberec Synagogue is the first building of its kind built in Central Europe after World War II. This prayer hall, also known as the "synagogue", was ceremonially opened on 9 November 2000, to symbolically mark the 62nd anniversary of the date its predecessor was burnt down.

Original tora and symbolic Wailing Wall

Inside the prayer room there is the tora from the original synagogue, which is scorched by fire and badly damaged, and so serves as a fitting reminder of the brutality of the Nazi pogroms. There is also a symbolic "Wailing Wall", built from the stones of the original synagogue. The plans and pictures of the first synagogue are also on display in the permanent exhibition.