A new, permanent exhibit on the history of Jews in Pécs and surrounding Baranya County, from the 18th century to the present, has been opened in the city’s synagogue.
According to the Hungarian news agency MTI, the exhibit, which opened just before Rosh Hashanah, employs documents, Judaica objects and other artifacts, as well as touch-screens and flat-screen monitors to tell personal stories as well as general history.
The exhibit is installed in the women’s gallery and in the stairwells, and will not interfere with the religious use of the building by the local Jewish community, which uses the sanctuary on the high holidays and for major events.
The synagogue in Pécs, located on downtown Kossuth square, was designed by the architects Karoly Gerster and Lajos Frey and built between 1866 and 1869. Its façade features tall arched windows and a high, arched central section, framing a big clock and topped by the tablets of Moses. Around the top of the clock runs a Hebrew quotation from the book of Isaiah: “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” Inside, the two tiers of the women’s galleries, supported by cast iron columns, have beautifully decorated ceilings, and there is a choir loft and organ.
Click to see a 360 degree panorama of the synagogue interior (before the exhibit installation)