JEVREJSKA STREET 7-11 – SYNAGOGUE COMPLEX
The complex that includes the synagogue, the former Jewish school (today the Ballet School), and the municipal building with apartments for clerks (now the Jewish Community of Novi Sad) was constructed between 1906 and 1909, based on designs by Lipot Baumhorn, a renowned Budapest-based architect and the most prominent designer of synagogues in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The buildings were constructed simultaneously in the Secession (Art Nouveau) style.
The synagogue, situated in the center of the complex, was conceived as a three-nave basilica with a narthex, two square towers on the front façade, a three-part apse, and a monumental central dome.
The main façade features a triple-arched portal with archivolts and a large rose window surmounted by arched openings.
The decoration is executed in yellow clinker brick, with ornamental window and door frames and Hebrew inscriptions.
The interior is spacious and filled with natural light. Noteworthy features include the masonry choir screen with a model of the Temple in Jerusalem, friezes on the galleries, ornamental stained glass, and a large stained-glass window in the dome. The ground floor houses 584 seats for men, while the galleries accommodate 416 seats for women.
On the eastern wall stands the aron ha-kodesh (holy ark) containing the Torah scrolls, in front of which rises the bimah, flanked by menorahs.
The synagogue once featured a pipe organ, installed in 1908 and later electrified in 1924.
To the left and right of the synagogue are two-story buildings — the former school and municipality, with street-facing façades and rows of windows facing the courtyard.
The courtyard also once housed a ritual bath (mikveh).
The 1717 census of Petrovaradin Šanac records the presence of three Jewish families in the chamber (i.e., civilian) part of the settlement. Their number increased significantly after 1739, when Belgrade once again fell under Ottoman rule. At that time, a larger group of Jews settled in the Šanac, among them the distinguished merchant family Hirschl, which played a leading role in the life of Novi Sad’s Jewish community for nearly an entire century.
The acquisition of the status of a Free Royal City (1748) did not bring substantial changes to their legal position. In administrative documents they were mostly mentioned simply as “tax payers,” reflecting the limited civic rights they possessed at the time. As in many Central European towns of that era, Jews lived in separate streets or quarters — a form of “ghetto.”
The principal occupation of Novi Sad’s Jews was trade, although they were also engaged in crafts and various service professions. Often relying on their own community, they maintained their own physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, and other professionals, thereby creating an internal social infrastructure.
As early as 1743, the community already had a synagogue and a rabbi.
The Jewish synagogal tradition in Novi Sad dates back to 1717, when the first synagogue was located on Gospodska Street. After several reconstructions and relocations, the current — fifth — synagogue was built between 1906 and 1909, and consecrated on September 8, 1909.
During World War II, the synagogue was damaged and in 1944 was used as a gathering point for Jews from Novi Sad before their deportation to death camps.
After the war, it served as a storage facility, until it was restored and reopened in 1991 as a concert hall and cultural monument of great importance.
Today, the Novi Sad Synagogue complex is one of the most distinctive architectural ensembles in the city and an important monument to the Jewish community and the history of Novi Sad.
Jewish School
By decree dated March 31, 1783, the Hungarian Royal Council in Buda granted permission to open Jewish schools throughout Hungary. The Jewish community in Novi Sad was officially established in 1789, and it is possible that a public Jewish elementary school already existed at that time. However, official records about such a school appear only after 1796 or 1802. If a Jewish school existed prior to that, it did not have public status.
The Jewish elementary school in Novi Sad began operating in 1796. It was the first national (ethnic) school in the city. The Historical Archives of Novi Sad preserve class records and enrollment books from 1857 until the school’s nationalization in 1920.
The school grew steadily: in 1864, it had 72 boys and 62 girls, taught by three teachers.
Ten years later, the number of students reached nearly 200. The school was known for its qualified staff, strict discipline, and high educational standards, and it gained respect even beyond the Jewish community – children of other faiths also attended.
The first classrooms were located in a small house next to the synagogue.
A new school building was constructed in 1884, followed by an additional structure in 1892. The final and most representative school building was completed in 1907, as part of the unified complex with the synagogue and the Jewish Community building.
During World War I, the school served as a hospital, but in 1919, it resumed its educational function. However, just a year later, following the implementation of the Decree on Schools in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, all national and private schools were nationalized – including this one. It was renamed the “State Elementary School on Futoški put”, with so-called Jewish classes. A decision by the Education Department of the Local Government in Novi Sad on March 11, 1919, approved by the Ministry of Education, replaced the Hungarian language in Jewish schools with Serbo-Croatian.
The Ministry of Education, under decision no. 31691/1920, ordered that Jewish children be integrated into classes taught in Serbo-Croatian. Thus, the Jewish national (private) elementary school in Novi Sad formally ceased to exist in 1919, as both students and teachers were incorporated into the public school system.
Records exist of Jewish students and teachers in Novi Sad’s elementary school from 1919 to 1940. There were three teachers, and the number of students ranged between 100 and 150.
The school operated until World War II, when many of its students and teachers perished in the pogroms and the Holocaust. After 1942, the school was never reopened.
Jewish Community Building
Jevrejska Street 11
As early as the first decades of the 18th century, the Jews of Novi Sad were organized into a Jewish Community – Comunitas Judaeorum, where key matters concerning the community were addressed. For a long time, the community operated from a small and modest house, which also served as the rabbi’s residence and occasionally as a classroom. However, the space soon became inadequate. Expansions and adaptations could no longer meet the needs of the growing community.
For this reason, in the early 20th century, alongside the project for the construction of the new synagogue, it was decided to build a representative building for the Jewish Community administration. The structure was completed in 1908, based on designs by Budapest architect Lipót Baumhorn, and was built in the same Secessionist (Art Nouveau) style as the synagogue.
This three-story building was designed for the community’s administration, including offices, and residences for the rabbi, cantor, and officials.
The high floor levels give the building an elegant verticality, while the inner courtyard features characteristic balconied hallways.
Today, the building is partially used by the Jewish Community of Novi Sad, while the rest consists of privately owned apartments.
Social and Historical Role
This three-story building was designed for the community’s administration, including offices, and residences for the rabbi, cantor, and officials.
The high floor levels give the building an elegant verticality, while the inner courtyard features characteristic balconied hallways. Today, the building is partially used by the Jewish Community of Novi Sad, while the rest consists of privately owned apartments.
One of its greatest responsibilities was collecting the so-called tolerance tax, a levy introduced by Empress Maria Theresa in 1743. Initially, it was set at two florins per household, but it was soon expanded to all Jews, becoming a permanent source of income for the state. The rationale was that Jews had to pay this tax “to be tolerated”. This heavy burden pushed many families to the brink of survival. It was not until Emperor Joseph II, in 1786, that the tolerance tax was abolished and replaced by the so-called cameral tax, though collection problems persisted.
A similar fate befell the Jewish Community of Novi Sad nearly two centuries later, during the Hungarian occupation in 1941, when the authorities ordered the community to collect a large sum of money, gold, and valuables within 48 hours. When the obligation could not be fulfilled, a pre-planned reprisal followed.
Jewish Cultural Center
Petra Drapšina 8 (formerly Petra Zrinjskog Street)
Between the two world wars, the Jewish community of Novi Sad developed a rich social, cultural, and sports life, playing a significant role in the city’s events. Particularly active was the Jewish Sports Club “Juda Maccabi”, founded in 1920, which had numerous sections: football, wrestling, fencing, table tennis, athletics, swimming, boxing, as well as a women’s team called “Hazena”. The club achieved notable success at the national level.
In addition to sports, the city was home to Jewish choirs such as “Hazemer” and “Hashira”, drama associations, publishing initiatives, and various youth organizations. Their headquarters, from 1935, became the newly built Jewish Cultural Center.
Architecture and Facilities
The building was constructed in a modern style, with simple, geometric lines. From the street side, it had two floors, while a courtyard wing extended toward the synagogue, housing a large hall.
The hall included a stage, balcony, and had a seating capacity of 655, with accompanying changing rooms and wardrobes.
The complex also housed rooms for community organizations, a kindergarten, and the administration of the Jewish Community.
The Cultural Center hosted theatrical performances, concerts, gymnastic events, Jewish school programs, and numerous recitals. Until 1941, the building served as the central hub of Jewish communal life in Novi Sad. After that, activity ceased due to the tragic events of the Holocaust.
Today, the building houses the College of Vocational Studies for Teacher Education.
Cultural Legacy
The cultural heritage of the Jews of Novi Sad is incredibly rich, encompassing literary works, musical compositions, journals, newspapers, librettos, as well as architectural and photographic achievements.
In the early 18th century, Jews in Novi Sad spoke various languages, depending on their regions of origin, along with some Hebrew. Over time, they adopted German and Hungarian, which remained dominant until 1941. Books, newspapers, and magazines were published in those languages.
Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazi Jews that developed between the 9th and 12th centuries, was also once present in the community.
Today, Serbian is the primary language of communication for the Jews of Novi Sad, and it is in this language that they continue to create and publish new cultural works.
The realisation of this site was supported by the Administration for Culture of the City of Novi Sad
The sources and materials of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Novi Sad were used for the realization of this website
The Old Core of Novi Sad was declared a cultural asset, by the decision on establishing it as a spatial cultural-historical unit – 05 no. 633-151/2008 of January 17, 2008, “Sl. gazette of the Republic of Serbia” no. 07/2008.
