History
Princes Street
The original synagogue building on Princes Street was designed and built by Edward Bartley in 1884–1885 in a Romanesque Revival style, incorporating Gothic Revival and Moorish Revival design elements. [3] [4] The foundation stone was laid by David Nathan (1816–1886), an early Jewish settler and founder of the L. D. Nathan chain of stores, [5] and the synagogue opened on 9 November 1885. [6] The building could seat 375 people. [7] It was built on the site of an earlier military guardhouse [8] associated with Albert Barracks. The construction of the synagogue was a statement by the Jewish community in Auckland of their status and their acceptance in the local community. [4] The building has a Category I listing with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. [8]
In 1968, the congregation moved to a new synagogue on Greys Avenue. [4] Following the deconsecration, ownership of the Princes Street property reverted to Auckland City Council as part of the Albert Park Reserve. [9] It subsequently served as a branch of the National Bank of New Zealand, restored by the bank in 1989, preserving the stained glass windows as well as the Romanesque and Eastern decorative motifs. [10] The building currently serves as the office for the University of Auckland's alumni relations and development department. [10]
Greys Avenue
As the congregation grew in size, a larger building was needed to meet it needs and a plot was purchased on Greys Avenue, overlooking Myers Park. [11] The former Princes Street synagogue was deconsecrated in 1969. [7] The new inner-city synagogue was consecrated on 8 September 1968. [12] The Greys Avenue building was designed by John Goldwater, a New Zealand Jewish architect, in a Modernist style; and was the recipient of an architectural award in 1970. [13] The synagogue and complex underwent a US$$6.63 million refurbishment in 2008 and John Key, a Jew who later became Prime Minister of New Zealand, attended the reopening. [14] After an earlier ban had been put in place, in 2010 the congregation led a successful challenge against the New Zealand government, to allow shechita . [15] In 2011, Israel's Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin addressed the congregation. It marked the first official Israeli state visit to the country in a quarter of a century, since President Chaim Herzog's visit in 1986. [16] The buildings and sanctuary were used for filming by Simone Nathan in her 2022 TV series, Kid Sister . [17] The Greys Avenue complex was also home to Kadimah, the Jewish primary school, Auckland Jewish Immigration and the city's only kosher café. [18]
Remuera Road
In 2019, with the assistance of the Woolf Fisher Trust, the congregation purchased the campus of Saint Kentigern Girls' School in Remuera. [19] Kadimah relocated from Grey's Avenue to the Remuera campus in 2023. [20] Other Jewish organisations and the Kosher café/deli are also in the process of relocating to the site, creating the main hub for Jewish life in Auckland. [1] The city's Reform congregation, Beth Shalom has also been invited to relocate to the campus. [21] The Auckland Hebrew Congregation plans to build a new sanctuary and synagogue in the future on the grounds of the campus. [22] It currently holds services in the original homestead on the property. The house had been built in 1918 for the Louisson family who, later downsized to a smaller property and sold the home to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [23] The property and campus later formed part of Corran School, a private girls school, before becoming Saint Kentigern's Girls' School following a 2009 merger. [23] There are also plans for a mikvah on the site, a cultural centre and provision for Jewish youth groups. [22] In recent decades, the congregation has stepped up efforts to encourage Jewish immigration to New Zealand, mostly focusing on Jewry in South Africa, Argentina and Israel. [24]
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