Stadttempel
The Stadttempel—also known as the City Prayer House and the Seitenstettengasse Temple—was completed in 1826, and it remains Vienna’s main synagogue for the Ashkenazi rite. Its construction ran from 1824 to 1826, designed in elegant Biedermeier style by Vienna architect Joseph Kornhäusel. What makes this building historically distinctive is how it was built into a block of houses: an edict issued by Emperor Joseph II required that only Roman Catholic worship places could present facades directly on public streets, so the synagogue was hidden from view. That concealment helped it survive the catastrophe of November 1938. During Kristallnacht, it was spared from destruction because burning it would have required setting the attached buildings on fire. It was also the only synagogue in Vienna to survive World War II, when Nazi forces and local authorities destroyed the other 93 synagogues and prayer-houses. …
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