Byzantine Revival Synagogues as Sonic Spaces

The Byzantine revival, understood as a modern phenomenon, has frequently been associated with imperial or national representation. This association is evident in the institutionalization of the Byzantine revival as the preferred style for Russian churches and in the promotion of Byzantine-style mosaics in the Bavarian and Prussian kingdoms. It has also been regarded as an aesthetic device for modernist and avant-garde artists, seemingly devoid of any intrinsic meaning or political agenda. However, little attention has been paid to the use of the Byzantine revival as a means of creating visibility for minority communities, including the appropriation of the Byzantine style as a tool of self-empowerment. The adoption of the Byzantine style in synagogue architecture provides a compelling counter-narrative, as the multifaceted integration of this style was driven by a combination of political, aesthetic, and liturgical motivations for a non-Christian minority community. The advent of the Byzantine revival coincided with the age of emancipation and the struggle for religious liberty among European Jews. In various regions of Western and Central Europe, therefore, Reform synagogues began to appear as prominent architectural landmarks. The paper will explore this pivotal moment of redefinition in Jewish religious and architectural history, focusing on the prominence of the Byzantine revival in the context of Reform synagogues. The adoption of Byzantine architectural models emerged as a particularly fruitful solution for Reform synagogues that introduced musical accompaniment in the form of a choir and, on occasion, even an organ during service. Consequently, I will argue that the establishment of a Jewish religious reform was enabled and catalyzed by the Byzantine revival, understood not only as a visual style but also as an acoustic spatial solution.