Synagogue - waiting for restaurateurs. In the mean time elements of nature, and peoples carelessness are destroying it. Recently complete gate in the fence vanished without a trace... ( eventualy traced - tooken for the repair :)
Aladžić Viktorija
SYNAGOGUE - SUBOTICA - YUGOSLAVIA
At the time when the Turks left the region around Subotica, in the second half of seventeenth century, Subotica was just another village among the Habsburg monarchy, situated centrally on the plains between two rivers: Tisa and Danube. Most of the people still lived in earth-cabins scattered around the settlement. In 1702 there were only 1969 inhabitants. Development of the settlement started at the beginning of eighteenth century. Most of the houses were small ground floor, with two or three rooms. Central territory of Subotica was swampy with creek running north to south direction. At north, northeast and east part of the settlement were three ponds, and on the south part of the nowadays town territory was morass.
Subotica acquired the status of free royal town in 1779, named according to the name of the queen: Maria Theresiopolis. In contrast to the title, the appearance of the town was much different. In this period only a few buildings could be seen arising toward the sky. There were baroque towers of three churches, baroque city hall, and only a very few private two-story buildings. All the other houses were still small village houses with two or three premises. Most of the streets were narrow, curved, dirty and muddy or in the summer dusty. At that time started a struggle of creating a town from the village. At the beginning of nineteen century a big hydroengineering project started on drainage of town territory.
The most important moment during nineteen century, in the development of town, was arrival of the railway line in 1869. Presence of the railway made exporting of goods (mostly wheat), possible. Cheap transport, together with development of trade helped development of town. Up to this period Subotica was never involved or was very late for the processes that were taking place in Europe. Architectural styles were coming to the town few decades later then in other parts of the Europe. But in the second part of the nineteen-century begun a very intense development of the town Subotica. Most of the buildings, that are present today, were built in the center of the town in just thirty years, around turn of the century.
This intense development created the conditions in which Subotica experienced a new architectural style Art - nouvaeu at the same time when Europe. Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos designed two story house for family Leovics, with elements of a new style in 1893, at the same time when the house in the de Turin in Brüssel designed by Victor Horta, was built. After that a lot of others art nouveau buildings were built up, so the architects like Marcell Komor, Dezsíµ Jakab, Ferenc Raichl, Titus Mačković, Mátyás Salga, Lipot Bálog, Vágó brothers, Isidor Strassburger were responsible for the Subotica's fin de siecle appearance today.
When the art nouveau style started to reach this area, some of the most significant buildings in the city were built, such as the City Hall, the Synagogue, the Raichle palace; and also the Water tower, the Large Terrace and the Female bathhouse around the Palić lake, which is only seven kilometers far from the city.
Although the Synagogue is not the most significant building in Subotica in terms of its function and size, it was the first building a complete art-nouveau gesamtkunstwerk in Subotica. It is also the first building which Marcell Komor and Jakab Dezsíµ built together in Subotica. The plans for the synagogue were entered in a competition at Szeged at 1899. The first prize won Lipót Baumhorn. Marcell Komor and Jakab Dezsíµ won a commission. At the same time a Jewish Community in Subotica had decided to build a new synagogue and Komor-Jakab design was accepted without hesitation.
Construction work started in 1901 and Synagogue was finished next year. The synagogue in Subotica is unique in many ways. Instead of longitudinal shape, as the majority of such buildings in Europe had, the synagogue in Subotica has a central arrangement, with eight, circularly arranged, steel columns, which provide a base for an exceptional upper structure. In the upper zone the columns are connected with steel beams of 80-cm height in a horizontal line embedded in a massive octagon brick wall (tambour). Above the tambour a thin Rabitz skin (Rabitz wire and concrete shell) of 8-10 cm is put to form the dome. Eight ribs on the top, which are multiplied to 32 at the bottom, secure the carrying capacity of a dome. Timber structure covered with zinc sheets, over the concrete shell of dome protect it from weather conditions. By this method the steel columns are transferring the load of the cupola to the foundations, and external walls are non-bearing, without need of additional supporting elements. The height of the interior space is 23 m, and the cupola span is 12,6 m. The external walls form a rectangular space in which the holly place and its galleries are situated. Thanks to this method of construction, the volume of the building could develop freely around the structural elements, and architects used this to their advantage and consistently adapted the form of the building, the overall building volume and the smallest details to the style of construction.
The floral ornaments in the form of peacock plumage, stylized roses and lilies were made of terra cotta and positioned externally on the facades. Internally the same decorative themes appear on the stained glass panels and the wall paintings; all of them inspired by the folk art of Transylvania. Therefore, the Synagogue has been a completely genuine and unique masterpiece of the Hungarian secession regarding its design, shape and structure.
The synagogue is empty today. In 1979 The Jewish Community entrusted the synagogue to the city on condition that it would be refurbished and restored. Since then the cupola which was leaning, has been reinstated and a part of a paintings in its interior were renewed. For a time there was a theater company having performances in the building. A wooden stage was erected above the original benches. Although the idea of placing the theatre in the synagogue was not to destroy it, considerable damage was evident after the theatre had moved out.
During twenty-five years the Synagogue has had several hosts and each new one had a different attitude to it. The frequent changes of hosts obstructed the continuity of its restoration and the war that broke up in Yugoslavia in 1991, only contributed to more difficult working conditions on the building. Today the Synagogue has no host again; there is only a strong determination for its restoration and a will to correct the negligence of the past.
Owing to efforts and contacts between Estera Votaw, ex-mayor of Subotica József Kasza and Samuel D. Gruber Ph. D. president of ISJM, Syracuse, application was prepared and the Synagogue was listed on a World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, and on a list of 10 synagogues of The Jewish Heritage Program in 1996 and again in 2000-2001.
At 7th December 2000 World Monuments Fund through its new Jewish Heritage Grant Program, and The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation announced 60.000 USA $ grant for stabilization of the most damaged portions of the roof of the synagogue and for the priority exterior work. Let us hope that this donation is only the beginning of the completion of a task to restore the Synagogue in Subotica, Northern Yugoslavia.
