In theory, ten Jewish men gathered beneath a roof with a Torah shrine and a bimah (a raise reading place) suffice to define a synagogue. Derived from ancient Greek, the word implies an act of “bringing together”. In other words, it is a meeting place. Since 1990, many emigrants from the former Soviet Union have come to Dresden, and the Jewish population of the city is growing again. That required the construction of a new synagogue to replace the one designed by Gottfried Semper in 1840 and destroyed in 1938. The only site
available for this was a narrow strip of land between railway lines and a road. The architects decided to accommodate the two functions defined in the brief – synagogue and community centre – in two autonomous
yet related structures.
available for this was a narrow strip of land between railway lines and a road. The architects decided to accommodate the two functions defined in the brief – synagogue and community centre – in two autonomous
yet related structures.