Klezmer, Exile Songs and Remembrance in a Restored Art Nouveau Synagogue — St. Pölten, October to December 2026

The synagogue on the Dr. Karl Renner-Promenade in St. Pölten was built in 1913 to designs by Theodor Schreier and Viktor Postelberg, in the Art Nouveau idiom that was then the language of the Austrian provinces as much as of Vienna. It was badly damaged in the November pogroms of 1938 and “aryanised” by the City of St. Pölten. Restitution to the Jewish Community of Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien) followed in 1954, and a first restoration ran from 1980 to 1984. The second renovation and adaptation — jointly funded with 4.6 million euros, shared in equal thirds by the Austrian federal government, the Federal State of Lower Austria and the City of St. Pölten under the Culture St. Pölten 2024 project — was completed in 2024. The Jewish Community of Vienna, which still owns the building, transferred its use to NÖ Museum Betriebs GmbH, and it reopened in April 2024 as the Former Synagogue St. Pölten: a place of remembrance and a cultural venue rather than an active place of worship.

The regular season of the Former Synagogue St. Pölten runs from April to mid-November. Its autumn and winter programme turns the restored main hall of the former house of prayer into a concert hall, and in 2026 it also includes a concert in December. Through a blend of music, historical education and the work of remembrance, the building has been given a new purpose.

The programme

• Saturday 3 October 2026, 6pm–11pm — ORF Long Night of Museums: the Former Synagogue takes part in the Austria-wide late opening.
• Sunday 4 October 2026, 11am — The Minetti Quartett plays chamber music for the Mozartgemeinde Niederösterreich. €25, students €5.
• Wednesday 14 October 2026, 4pm — BINA, a circus festival performance with Ron Beeri and Yuval Oz. Forty minutes, suitable from age three.
• Thursday 15 October 2026, 6.30pm — Der Šenster Gob, an acoustic klezmer folk quartet from Prague, with the programme Majority of Minorities. €22.
• Sunday 25 October 2026, 6.30pm — Serenade des Exils: Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Mahler, Korngold and Ursula Mamlok, sung by the mezzo-soprano Hagar Sharvit with strings and piano. €28.
• Wednesday 11 November 2026, 6pm — Remembering the November pogroms of 1938, a lecture and concert under the title Gedenken braucht Forschung. Free, with a registration card.
• Thursday 3 December 2026, 6pm — Yentes Kuzines with Roman Grinberg: a Hanukkah concert for five voices and piano. €22.

Alongside the concerts, the temporary exhibition Stolen Sanctity — Judaica from Lower Austria is open until 15 November 2026.

Practical details

• When: 3 October to 3 December 2026
• Where: Ehemalige Synagoge St. Pölten, Dr. Karl Renner-Promenade 22, 3100 St. Pölten, Austria
• Admission to the building: €5, reduced €4; ages 7 to 18 €3.50; under 7 free; family card €12; guided tours €5.50 per person. Concerts are priced separately.
• Tickets: the webshop of the Lower Austrian museums, shop.museumnoe.at, or www.ehemalige-synagoge.at/en/events
• Contact: +43 2742 90 80 90-972

The Institute for Jewish History of Austria (Injoest) has been housed in the adjacent cantor’s house since 1988, and its former director, Dr. Martha Keil, is the academic director of the site. The Former Synagogue is a subsidiary of NÖ Museum Betriebs GmbH. Cultural Heritage Online lists this season for readers following Art Nouveau and Jewish heritage in Lower Austria.