The synagogue, or Templ , stood in the spa town of Frantiskovy Lazne between 1875 and 1938, when it was burned down and demolished by the Nazis. Proclus between houses is not built up to date. Nearly all of the Jewish inhabitants of Franzensbad died during the Shoah, and today there are only a few Jewish citizens living in the city. If you’re tired of seeing Paris to Normandy river cruises, this Europe destination is a good alternative.

Advertiser of the Jewish merchant AM Picka to "Franziskolda mineral water" printed in Österreichische Badezeitung in 1895.

The first documented mention of the Jews in Františkovy Lázně dates back to 1793, when the Jewish tradesmen from Hazlov , Kynšperk nad Ohří , Kynžvart , Lomnička and other surrounding villages were temporarily staying during the spa season and offered their seasonal spa clients their mostly small goods. Approximately around the year 1830 a kind J.Kauders opens seasonal kosher restaurant, which naturally begin to Jewish spa guests to meet and worship. The device operates mainly under Kauders' son-in-law, Phillip Adler, who later became the first president of the Franciscan religious association, however, the Jews may have settled permanently in the town only after 1848.

At the beginning of the 1970s the number of Jewish inhabitants of Františkovy Lázně exceeds three and continues to rise. It is decided to purchase land for the construction of a synagogue and the establishment of a cemetery, financial donations from patrons from the Jewish spa clientele is more than enough for this purpose.

Thus, in 1875, in the presence of the leaders of the Supreme Association, the chief rabbi of Karlovy Vary, dr. Plauta, representatives of the city and numerous guests ceremoniously consecrated the synagogue and the same day is ceremoniously opened a new Jewish cemetery. That same year the Jewish Religious Association was transformed into a regular NGO. The chairman of the village is Phillip Adler, the board of directors Abraham Pfefferkorn, Moritz Reichl, Nathan Spiegl, Josef Steiner, Leopold Weinfeld and Nathan Wessl. The governor of the synagogue is Jakob Spiegl.

Most of the Jewish inhabitants of Františkovy Lázně live in the first half of the 1980s, about seventy people. In 1930, only 63 local citizens were reported to be Jewish, after the war, there were a handful of concentration camp returnees who had resumed the operation of the WMO for some time, but the very soon as a result of the population downturn caused by the Holocaust was extinct.

The synagogue was built between the years 1873 up to 1875 in the then very fashionable so. Moorish style as a corner building on the street Kaiserstraße (the First Republic Schiller class today, ul. US), according to the plans of architect Karl Wiedemann . It served as a worship service until Munich's treachery, when the disputed territory of the so-called Sudeten was ceded to Nazi Germany. 

Immediately after the annexationthe building, as well as beside the standing house of the ŽNO and the Jewish hospital, was the target of the fanatical raid of the Nazis; because the set of houses was on the corner, it was no problem to force it out and ignite it without any more damage to neighboring "Aryan" objects. The local Jewish cemetery was completely devastated during the occupation, leaving nothing at all. 

The ruins of the synagogue were not cleared until 1944. The plot where the synagogue was standing is still unbuilt and there is a modest memorial.

If you want to see this historical jewel, book a kosher river cruise right away!

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