Great German Synagogue | |
---|---|
Italian: Scuola Grande Tedesca | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism (former) |
Rite | Nusach Ashkenaz |
Ecclesiastical or organisational status |
|
Status |
|
Location | |
Location | Jewish Ghetto, Venice |
Country | Italy |
Location of the former synagogue in Venice | |
Geographic coordinates | 45°26′42.2138″N12°19′37.6381″E / 45.445059389°N 12.327121694°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Synagogue architecture |
Completed | 1528 |
Materials | Stone |
[1] |
The Great German Synagogue (Italian : Scuola Grande Tedesca) is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Italy. Completed in 1528, it is the oldest Venetian synagogue, and one of five synagogues that were established in the ghetto. [2] [3]
Ceased operating as a synagogue in 1917, the former synagogue building was restored between 2016 and 2017 by the World Monuments Fund. [4] No longer used for regular worship, it is open to the public as a Jewish museum through the Jewish Museum of Venice.
The Great German Synagogue is one of the three synagogues located in the Ghetto Nuovo (the oldest part of the Venetian Ghetto, established on 29 March 1516), [5] together with the Scuola Canton and Scuola Italiana . It was built in 1528 [6] [7] by members of the local Ashkenazi community. A stone plaque on the west wall of the building records its construction at the expense of two donors. [8] Like the other four synagogues in Venice, it was termed a scuola ("School"), rather than sinagoga ("Synagogue"), in the same way in which Ashkenazi Jews refer to the synagogue as the shul (שול) in Yiddish.
The Great German Synagogue was the first public synagogue erected in the Ghetto Nuovo. Together with the nearby Scuola Canton, completed in 1532, it stands as a testament to the influence of the Ashkenazi community in the early years of the Ghetto, before the arrival of the much more affluent Jewish merchants from Spain and the Levant in the 1550s. [9]
Along with the other synagogues of Venice, it ceased to be regularly used in October 1917, when the local Jewish community was forced to disband; [lower-alpha 1] at the same time, administration of all the Jewish places of worship was taken over by a single institution, the Templi Israelitici Uniti. [11]
Built on top of a preexisting structure, the prayer hall features an irregular shape. [8] The bimah was originally placed in the middle of the room in accordance with the traditional "central bimah" configuration, [12] and only later moved to the north end of the sanctuary. [13]
Cannaregio is the northernmost of the six historic sestieri of Venice. It is the second largest sestiere by land area and the largest by population, with 13,169 people as of 2007.
Judeo-Italian is a groups of endangered and extinct Jewish dialects, with only about 200 speakers in Italy and 250 total speakers today. The dialects are one of the Italian languages and are a subgrouping of the Judeo-Romance Languages. Some words have Italian prefixes and suffixes added to Hebrew words as well as Aramaic roots. All of the dialects except Judeo-Roman are now extinct.
The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were forced to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ghetto is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice. The Venetian Ghetto was instituted on 29 March 1516 by decree of Doge Leonardo Loredan and the Venetian Senate. It was not the first time that Jews in Venice were compelled to live in a segregated area of the city. In 1555, Venice had 160,208 inhabitants, including 923 Jews, who were mainly merchants.
Synagogue architecture often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. According to tradition, the Shekhinah or divine presence can be found wherever there is a minyan, a quorum, of ten. A synagogue always contains an Torah ark where the Torah scrolls are kept, called the aron qodesh by Ashkenazi Jews and the hekhal by Sephardic Jews.
Italian Jews or Roman Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in Italy, or, in a narrower sense, to mean the Italkim, an ancient community living in Italy since the Ancient Roman era, who use the Italian liturgy as distinct from those Jewish communities in Italy dating from medieval or modern times who use the Sephardic liturgy or the Nusach Ashkenaz.
The history of the Jews in Trieste goes back over 800 years.
The history of the Jewish community of Venice, the capital of the Veneto region of Italy, has been well known since the medieval era.
The Zamość Synagogue, also the Zamość Old Synagogue or the Great Synagogue of Zamość, is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Zamość, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Completed in 1618 in the Renaissance style, the synagogue is a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site of Poland. Erected during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, it functioned as a place of worship for Polish Jews until World War II, when the Nazis turned the interior into a carpenters' workshop. The structure was spared from destruction and in 1992 was listed as a World Heritage Site as part of the Old City of Zamość.
Simchah (Simon) ben Abraham Calimani was a Venetian rabbi and author. He was a versatile writer, and equally prominent as linguist, poet, orator, and Talmudist. During his rabbinate Calimani was engaged as corrector at the Hebrew printing office in Venice. Among the great number of books revised by him was the responsum of David ben Zimra (RaDBaZ), to which he added an index, and the Yad Ḥaruẓim of Gerson Ḥefeẓ, enriched with interesting notes of his own.
The Italian Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Italy. Completed in 1575, it is one of five synagogues that were established in the ghetto.
The Spanish Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Italy. Designed by Baldassare Longhena in the Baroque style, the synagogue was completed in 1580, and it is one of five synagogues that were established in the ghetto.
Riccardo Calimani is a writer and historian, specialising in Italian and European Judaism and Jewish history.
The Cherasco Synagogue is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located at Via Marconi 4, in Cherasco, Piedmont, Italy. Designed in the Baroque style, the synagogue was completed in the 18th century.
The Padua Synagogue, also called the Great Italian Synagogue in Padua, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located at San Martino e Solferino 9, in Padua, Veneto, Italy. Completed in 1548, it is the only synagogue still in use of the several that flourished in the university town of Padua from the Renaissance through World War II.
The Ferrara Synagogue is a Jewish congregation and synagogue complex, that is located at Via Mazzini 95, in Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Designed in the Baroque style, the synagogue complex comprises the Scuola Italiana, completed in 1485 and operated until 1944; the Scuola Tedesca, completed in 1603; and the Scuola Fanese, completed in the 19th century.
The history of the Jews in Florence can be traced over nine hundred years. Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. The Jews of Florence have one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in Europe. The historic Jewish community in Florence is one of the largest and one of the most influential Jewish communities in Italy. The Jewish community in Florence also serves the smaller neighboring Jewish communities in Pisa, Livorno, and Siena.
The Canton Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Italy.
The Venetian Inquisition, formally the Holy Office, was the tribunal established jointly by the Venetian government and the Catholic Church to repress heresy throughout the Republic of Venice. The inquisition also intervened in cases of sacrilege, apostasy, prohibited books, superstition, and witchcraft. It was established in the 16th-century and was abolished in 1797.
The Jewish Museum of Venice is a museum focusing on the history of Jews in the city of Venice.
The Levantine Synagogue is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located on Campiello delle Scuole, in the Venetian Ghetto of Venice, Italy. Designed by Baldassare Longhena and Andrea Brustolon in a mix of the Baroque and Mannerist styles, the synagogue was completed in 1541. The congregation worships in the Sephardic rite.
Media related to Scola Grande Tedesca (Venice) at Wikimedia Commons