Synagogue in Dobruška, Synagogue and cultural monument in Dobruška, Czech Republic.
The Synagogue in Dobruška is a former Jewish temple on Šubertovo náměstí, built after 1866 on the site of an older synagogue from 1722 and remodeled in neo-Gothic style. Its two-storey neo-Gothic facade forms part of the eastern line of the square, separated from the town museum by a narrow walled gap. The single-storey rear hall has a barrel vault, a kijor niche right of the entrance, an oval window above the aron ha-kodeš, and a women's gallery with decorated railing.
A first synagogue from 1722 burned down in 1806, and the Jewish community soon built a new one in neo-Gothic style, modified in 1868 after the 1866 fire. The community ceased to exist in 1941, and on 18 December 1942 the town's Jews were deported to Terezín. After the war the building housed the district secretariat of the Communist Party, and in 1954 it was consecrated as a prayer house for the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren from Klášter nad Dědinou.
The building now houses the permanent exhibition "Jews in the History of Dobruška", opened after the town bought the former synagogue in 2006 and renovated it in 2010. The original Dobruška Torah scroll was returned to the building, and a ritual mikve bath was found during the museum renovation and made accessible.
The synagogue stands at No. 646 on Šubertovo náměstí, about 100 m northeast of the main square, F. L. Věka. It is linked to the neighbouring rabbi's house, which holds the Vlastivědné muzeum, and the two are reached through a narrow, walled gap between them.
The narrow gap between the synagogue and the neighbouring rabbi's house is walled shut on both sides, and a bricked-up doorway in it may once have led into the mikveh, the ritual bath later rediscovered during the museum's reconstruction. A stone buttress spans the two buildings above the gap.
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