Arcdiocesan Museum Olomouc will open an exhibition mapping the fate of the synagogue

Olomouc - The Museum of Art in Olomouc will open an exhibition on Thursday mapping the beauty and tragic fate of the local synagogue. It was built in 1897 in the Moorish-Byzantine style behind the Terezin Gate at today’s Palach Square, and the Nazis burned it down on the very first day of the occupation. The exhibition, which also highlights the significance of the Jewish community in the city's history, will be on display at the Archdiocesan Museum. It is part of this year's edition of the Days of Jewish Culture, museum representatives said today to journalists.

"The exhibition will be unique in terms of the items on display. These are items that were in the synagogue and are related to the Jewish community," said Petr Papoušek, chairman of the Jewish Community of Olomouc, to journalists today.

The exhibition is divided into two sections. The first focuses on the construction of the synagogue from an architectural and art-historical perspective. It places it in the broader context of the work of its author, prominent Austrian architect Jakob Gartner, who designed 16 synagogues. In addition to the plans for the Olomouc synagogue, plans for his other lost synagogues in Kroměříž, Holešov, Prostějov, Opava, and Vienna are also presented.

According to the exhibition curator Gabriela Elblová, visitors will also see a portion of the preserved original furnishings from the vanished building. "The liturgical items are on loan from the Jewish Museum in Prague, where valuable synagogue items were transported from 1942 to 1945. All transports were very well documented, allowing for easy tracking of which synagogue they came from. In the collections, 18 items related to the Olomouc synagogue were found," Elblová added. She pointed out that items such as benches and stained glass windows that survived the fire of the building will also be on display.

The second main section will cover the religious life of the Olomouc Jewish community up to 1942. "The focus is primarily on the 19th century. The city's dynamics changed completely with their arrival, and it flourished. Jews also engaged in social and cultural life. It was a boost for a city that had been closed for centuries," the curator added. In this section, visitors can see medallions of significant community leaders, period photographs, and surviving prayer books.

The exhibition titled Olomouc Synagogue (1897-1939) will be on view at the Archdiocesan Museum until January 7 of next year. The museum is also preparing accompanying programs in connection with the exhibition.