Lipót Baumhorn

Lipót Baumhorn (Hungarian: Baumhorn Lipót, German: Leopold Baumhorn, December 28, 1860, Kisbér – July 8, 1932, Kisbér) was a Hungarian architect of Jewish heritage, the largest Hungarian synagogue architect in the first half of the 20th century. It formed about 20 synagogues in the Kingdom of Hungary.

Lipót Baumhorn
Born	Baumhorn Lipót (1860-12-28)December 28, 1860 Kisbér, Kingdom of Hungary
Died	July 8, 1932(1932-07-08) (aged 71) Kisbér, Kingdom of Hungary
Nationality	Hungarian
Occupation	Architect
Practice	synagogues and other public buildings

Career

He graduated from the main real school in Győr, the technical university in Vienna under Freiherr von Ferstel, König and Weyr. Then he came to Budapest and worked for 12 years in the office of architects Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos. In 1893 and 1899. He traveled to Italy, 1904. to Central Europe for architectural studies. His first independent work was the Moorish-style synagogue in Esztergom, built in 1888, which established his reputation. Since then, B. has built 22 synagogues in Hungary, the most significant of which is Szeged (1903), which was one of the largest in the old Austro-Hungarian monarchy (with 740 men's and 600 women's seats), significant new rural, Nagybecskerek, Fiume, Brassó, Temesvár, Szolnok, Cegléd, Eger, Losonc, Liptószentmiklós, Budapest: Aréna-út, Páva utca, Csáky utca synagogues. Other buildings include: The King of Győr. table (1890), the glass factories of Salgótarján (1893), the pavilion of the paper and reproduction industry of the millennial exhibition (1896), the headquarters of the Temesvár Valley Water Regulatory Company, the Temesvár higher girls' school, the headquarters of the Szeged-Csongrád Savings Bank, (1903), the Újvidék Savings Bank the Baja Savings Bank, the Temesvár Lloyd and the Stock Exchange Palace (1910–12).[1]

Buildings

Secular buildings

• Temesvár-Béga Palace (Timișoara)
• Junior High School (Timișoara, 1902–1904) (with Jakab Klein)
• Szeged-Csongrád Savings Bank (Szeged, Széchenyi tér 7. – Takarékpénztár u. 7. 1902–1903)
• Iron house (Szeged, Horváth Mihály u. 9. – Takarékpénztár u. 8., 1912–1913)
• Wagner Palace (Szeged, Kölcsey u. 4. – Kárász u. 14., 1904–1905)
• Palace of the Savings Bank (Újvidék (Novi Sad), 1904)
• Csata Street School (Budapest, 13th district, Csata u. 20., 1909–1911)
• Wagner Palace (Szeged, Feketesas u. 28., 1910–1911)
• Forbát House (Szeged, Dugonics tér 11. – Lajos Tisza 60., 1911–1912)
• Lloyd's Palace (Timișoara, 1912)
• Metal Trading Company Limited Office Building (Budapest, 13th district, Balzac u. 5., 1922)

Headquarters of the Jewish Community

• Headquarters of the Jewish Community of Szeged (Gutenberg u. 20 - Jósika 12., 1901–1903, Szeged)

Synagogues

Lipót Baumhorn designed many synagogues. The following is a detailed list:[2]

No.	Location	Name	Built	Destroyed	Remarks	Picture
1st	Esztergom, Hungary	Esztergom Synagogue	1888	stand	It is used for cultural purposes.
2nd	Rijeka, Croatia	Rijeka Synagogue	1895	1944	It was destroyed by Nazis.
3rd	Zrenjanin, Serbia	Zrenjanin Synagogue	1896	1940s	It was demolished by the German occupiers during World War II, only its organ escaped.
4th	Timișoara, Romania	Fabric Synagogue	1897–1899	stand	It is in a dilapidated state, threatened with collapse.
5th	Szolnok, Hungary	Szolnok Synagogue	1898	stand	Recently renovated. The Szolnok Gallery operates in the building.
6th	Brașov, Romania	Brașov Synagogue	1899–1901	stand	Recently renovated. In use.
7th	Szeged, Hungary	Szeged New Synagogue	1900–1902	stand	It is the second largest synagogue in Hungary and the fourth largest in the world. Recently renovated. In use.
8th	Cegléd, Hungary	Cegléd Synagogue	1902	stand	It functions as a sports hall.
9th	Novi Sad, Serbia	Novi Sad Synagogue	1905–1909	stand	It is used for many cultural concerts and events.
10th	Satu Mare, Romania	Szatmar Synagogue	1906–1909[3]	after 1945	It was demolished at an unknown time after World War II.
11th	Murska Sobota, Slovenia	Murska Sobota Synagogue	1908	after 1945	It was demolished at an unknown time after World War II.
12th	Budapest, Hungary	Arena Synagogue	1908–1909	stand	The building is now used by the Budapest Honved Fencing Hall
13th	Nitra, Slovakia	Nitra Synagogue	1908–1911	stand	Renovated from 2003, it is also available to the public as a museum of Jewish culture and a venue for various cultural events.
14th	Eger, Hungary	Eger Synagogue	1911–1913	1967	It was blown up, citing its exaggerated and degrading size of the settlement.
15th	Makó, Hungary	Makó Neological Synagogue	1914	1965	After the destruction of Makó Jewry in World War II, the synagogue lost its former role. In the 1950s and 1960s, several ideas were born for recycling, but they were eventually dismantled.
16th	Nyíregyháza, Hungary	Nyíregyháza New Synagogue	1918–1923	stand	In use.
17th	Budapest, Hungary	Páva Street Synagogue	1923–1924	stand	Recently renovated. In use.
18th	Lučenec, Slovakia	Lučenec Synagogue	1924–1925	stand	Recently renovated. It is used for cultural purposes.
19th	Gyöngyös, Hungary	Gyöngyös Synagogue	1929–1930	stand	Recently renovated. It is used for cultural purposes.

Expansions

• Draft of the Lipótváros Synagogue (1899)
• Expansion of the Pécs Synagogue (1905)
• Reconstruction of the Kaposvár Synagogue (1905–1906)
• Reconstruction of the Synagogue of Liptovský Mikuláš (1906)[4]
• Reconstruction and minor transformation of the Szeged Old Synagogue (1906)
• Expansion of the Újpest Synagogue (1909)
• Redesigning the damaged dome of Kecskemét synagogue with his finger (1910)
• Transformation of Kass Vígadó into a hotel (Szeged, Dózsa u. 1. – Stefánia 8. – Arany János u. 2–4. 1916)
• Extension of the Csáky Street Synagogue (1925–1927)
• Reconstruction of the Nagykanizsa Synagogue (1928)
• Plans for the New Synagogue of Žilina (1920s). He did not win the tender.[5]
• Expansion of the Bethlen Space Synagogue (1931–1932)

References

1. Magyar zsidó lexikon. Szerk. Ujvári Péter. Budapest: Magyar Zsidó Lexikon. 1929.
2. https://www.or-zse.hu/resp/hallgatoi/farago-baumhorn.htm
3. http://judaica.cz/?page_id=8478#gallery/a83b064485016ad5892720892a8b0269/1602
4. https://www.mikulas.sk/en/visitor/museums-and-galleries/synagogue/
5. http://magyarzsido.hu/images/zsinagogak/Zsolna.jpg

External links

Media related to Lipót Baumhorn at Wikimedia Commons

• Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon 1000-1990 at www.mek.iif.hu