Stadttempel — Attraction in Vienna

Visited 27/5/22 on a tour and 28/5/22 for Sabbath morning service.

Anybody visiting Vienna in order to see Jewish things and understand how the Jews fit into Vienna, then and now, has to visit the Stadttempel. This beautiful late-classical period piece sits unheralded behind a facade of normal house fronts, and was built in this way to avoid ostentation in a time when Jews were not yet free to do in Vienna as they pleased. The interior betrays the fact that its principal architect had significant experience with theatres. As a result, the acoustic is excellent for diffusion of sound to all parts. The building survived the destruction visited on other synagogues on Kristallnacht in November 1938 because it was part of a contiguous building line and, at least back then, the Nazis were not willing to torch a neighbourhood in order to gut a synagogue. The interior has of course been restored and the furnishings are modern (though they could be a bit more comfortable).

The guided tour focused on the history of the building, and of the core events in the community history during that time.

There was one utterly glaring omission, for those who know about such things, and this costs a star in my review. There was absolutely no mention, either in the guided tour or in any display in the building, of the synagogue’s main legacy: the synagogue music of Salomon Sulzer. Sulzer revolutionised the content and function of the cantorial service, and since his pioneering work starting there in the 1820s all European and wider-world Ashkenazi synagogue services have been similarly reshaped and transformed. It would have been fitting to see a proper memorial to his work in the synagogue lobby.

If taking the tour, get there early, as the security check is rigorous, and bring i/d. The tour itself is barely 40 minutes, though the guide will stay to answer...

I contacted the Stadttempel as I was going to be traveling during Yom Kippur and wanted to still attend services during my travels. I contacted the Synagogue weeks before the High Holidays to ask if it's ok I attend Yom Kippur services. The kind lady emailed me back and said I may attend. She said to send copies of my passport and my mothers (as she was coming with me). I sent the copies and she kindly sent me tickets to Yom Kippur services. I arrived at the temple for services and the blonde haired security guy asked for our passports, asked what state we're from, and then said only community members can attend. I showed him the tickets, but he says he doesn't care. That the lady who sent me the tickets made a mistake and only community members can attend. I offered to show him the email communications, which also included someone else from the temple. Obviously multiple persons at the temple had to have approved us to get tickets. He just coldly kept repeating himself that he doesn't care what I show him or who I've spoken with and I can not attend. My stomach was upside down as had I known ahead of time I would have inquired to another temple. But now it was too late to attend services elsewhere. Unreal for a securty guy [who is not Jewish] to deny a Jew to pray on the holiest day of the year, especially when I had prior approval. My...

I would suggest, given Vienna's history , that this is a 'must' place to visit. It was an honour, I felt, to come here.

Of itself, it's a great building and woven with so much important history and themes past and present.

The Shul tour guide was thoughtful, engaging, well prepared and a joy.

It is wonderful too that the building is not just historical but home to some of a growing Jewish community in Vienna. A place of worship, learning and praise. May this be ever so.

A welcome coffee would have enhanced hospitality and the experience.

Decent toilets.

If in Vienna, this place and tour is key to a rounded visit of this...