Foundation

Almost 200 years of ban of settlement for Jews in Lower Austria ended in 1848 when the Revolution eventually brought about the right to free settlement. Jews and Jewesses, mainly from Moravia, Bohemia and Western Hungary, moved to St. Pölten. Already in 1851 they fitted a prayer room and in 1859 they bought the cemetery on Pernerstorfer Platz, which is today only extant as green area.  From 1906 onwards, the deceased were buried at the cemetery on Karlstettner Straße 3. The official foundation of the Israelite Religious Community took place in 1863. At that time, it had approximately 300 members in St. Pölten, Wilhelmsburg, Herzogenburg and the surrounding villages, increasing to roughly 1000 in 1928. 

The small prayer house soon did not suffice for the growing Jewish community. On April 7th, 1907, the Temple Erection Society was founded of which Richard Lustig and Julius Kohn were also members. Many community members made donations for the prayer house; the Women’s Association financed the Torah Shrine. Construction activities started on June 20th, 1912 under the supervision of the architects Theodor Schreier and Viktor Postelberg; in good tradition within the monarchy, the synagogue was inaugurated on August 17th, 1913 as »Kaiser Franz Josef-Jubiläumssynagoge« (Emperor Franz Josef-Jubilee Synagogue).