Scandinavia Special Interest Group (SIG)

Horsens Synagogue


"Den Levyske Stiftelse" in Farvergade (1992)
[Click on picture to see an enlargement]

At first the Jews were only permitted to have religious services at home.

In 1867 the Levy-family bought a plot in Farvergade which they donated to the Jewish Congregation. A synagogue was built there by J.C. Clausen, who built several public buildings in Horsens in the middle of the 19th century. The entrance was orientally inspired with great resemblance to the synagogue in Hildesheim, Germany.

In the deed it was stipulated that if the Jewish congregation in Horsens ceased to exist, the property should be given to the town Horsens and should be used for free lodging for the citizens of Horsens under the name "Den Levy'ske Stiftelse" [~ "The Levy Foundation"]

In the late 1890'es there were so few Jews left in Horsens that it was no longer possible to gather a minyan. According to the stipulation in the deed the brewer and titular councillor of state, Isac Zacharias Levy, his sisters, his brothers and his brothers-in-law passed the property to Horsens town council and had the house furnished for its future use. Part of the endowed capital and other valuables, which the family over the years had donated to the Jewish congregation, was passed on to the "Den Levyske Stiftelse" on the condition of a pledge by the town council to maintain the Jewish cemetery. The house has since then been the "Den Levyske Stiftelse".


Copyright © 1999,2000 & 2001 Scandinavia SIG & Steen Felding

Compiled and updated 20.6.2001