Stadttempel

The Stadttempel (also called the Seitenstettengasse Temple) is the main synagogue of Vienna, Austria. It is located in the 1st District (Innere Stadt), at Seitenstettengasse 4.

The synagogue was constructed in 1825 and 1826. The luxurious Stadttempel was fitted into a block of houses and hidden from plain view of the street, because of an edict issued by Emperor Joseph II that only Roman Catholic places of worship were allowed to be built with facades fronting directly on to public streets. Ironically, this edict saved the synagogue from total destruction during the Kristallnacht in November 1938, since the synagogue could not be destroyed without setting on fire the buildings to which it was attached. The Stadttempel was the only synagogue in the city to survive World War II, as the Nazis destroyed all of the other 93 synagogues and Jewish prayer-houses in Vienna.