Tours of the synagogue

The first synagogue of the Jewish community was located around 1200 on Gerbergasse. Since 1864 the Jewish community of Basel discussed the construction of a synagogue, which was finally built between 1866 and 1869 by the Christian architect Hermann Rudolf Gauss (1835-1868). In keeping with the times, the first building was a central neo-Byzantine cross-domed structure, to which a small shell was added in the east for the Torah shrine. The women’s galleries are oriented to the west.
Gauss used the synagogue of Stuttgart, also a dome building from the 19th century, as a model. However, it initially differed in design, since only one dome was realized for Basel and not two as in Stuttgart.

The synagogue was expanded in 1892 due to the growing congregation, when Paul Reber (1835-1908) added a second dome, which gave it a pronounced longitudinal extension and now provided space for 700 members. The dedication ceremony of the new building took place on September 9, 1968.

After the renovation in 1947, the colorful interior gave way to a uniform gray. In 1986/87, the synagogue was again extensively restored, especially the stencil painting on the east wall and the ornamentation of the interior from the time of Paul Reber’s expansion. The building combines Moorish elements, visible in the ornamentation, Byzantine structures and Pisan-Romanesque painting of the outer wall. The combination of stylistic elements is characteristic of early 20th century historicism.

This striking, oriental-looking architecture in the Basel cityscape demanded self-confidence from the Jewish community and also from the architect to expose themselves in this way. To this day, the Basel Synagogue, named Beit Yosef after banker Joseph Y. Safra Z’L (1938-2020) since 2020, continues to shape the cityscape of Basel and is a cultural asset of national importance.