Vukovar Synagogue
Vukovar Synagogue was the main synagogue of the Jewish community in Vukovar, Croatia, after the first smaller synagogue was sold to the Calvinist church in 1910. It was constructed in 1889 in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia within the Austrian Empire.
The Jews of Vukovar settled in the city in the 19th century from other parts of the Habsburg Monarchy. The Jewish community in Vukovar was one of the oldest and most significant Jewish communities in Croatia. The first Vukovar synagogue was built in 1845 by architect Fran Funtak. In 1889, Austria-Hungarian architect Ludwig Schöne built the Great Vukovar Synagogue for over 200 members of the Vukovar Jewish community. In 1941, during World War II, the synagogue was plundered and devastated by the Nazis. Almost all members of the Jewish community Vukovar were killed during the Holocaust, including Rabbi Izrael Scheer and his wife. In 1958, communist authorities of the SFR Yugoslavia demolished the synagogue and sold the remaining ruins.
A virtual reconstruction of the Vukovar Synagogue has been done by the Vienna University of Technology.
