Frankel Leó út Synagogue: The Temple in the Courtyard
Why is it significant?
From the pavement this is just another apartment block on Frankel Leó út, with balconies, shutters and a heavy front door. But look through the gateway, and there, in the courtyard, stands a synagogue... a whole house of prayer, completely wrapped inside the building.
Key Facts
| Place | Frankel Leó út Synagogue: The Temple in the Courtyard |
|---|---|
| Address | Frankel Leó út 49, 1023 Budapest, Hungary |
| Geo Coordinates | 47.52150, 19.03760 |
| Part of Walk | Water Town Secrets: Budapest's Víziváros from Batthyány tér to Gül Baba's Rose Garden |
| Generated | Generated |
From the pavement this is just another apartment block on Frankel Leó út, with balconies, shutters and a heavy front door. But look through the gateway, and there, in the courtyard, stands a synagogue... a whole house of prayer, completely wrapped inside the building.
The synagogue was built in 1888 for the Jewish community of Újlak, the old riverside village between Buda and Óbuda, and for forty years it stood in the open like any other. Then, in 1928, a block of flats was built around it, so that its facade disappeared from the street. Today it is one of the most surprising sacred spaces in the city: you can walk past it every day for years and never know it is there.
The community that prayed here was devastated in 1944 and 1945, during the German occupation and the Arrow Cross terror, when Jews across Budapest were robbed, deported, forced into labour service or murdered. The synagogue itself survived, and after the war a much smaller congregation came back to it. It is still in use.
And the street name has its own twist. Leó Frankel was born in Óbuda in 1844, trained as a goldsmith and wandered west, and in 1871 he became a member of the Paris Commune, in charge of labour questions in the revolutionary city government. Back in Hungary he helped to found the country's first workers' party. So a Jewish goldsmith turned French revolutionary gave his name to a Buda street that hides a synagogue.
And that is the Water Town for you: Ottoman arches in a church wall, a royal bath that belonged to the Königs, a dervish among roses, a foundry that sent wheels across Europe and a temple hidden in a courtyard. None of them shouts. All of them wait for you to look twice. Trams on the riverside road will take you back towards Margaret Bridge, or simply keep walking and see what else this quiet bank has been hiding.