A place of prayer for Jews, although the synagogue also fulfilled other functions in the life of the Kalisz community of the Jewish faith. The synagogue building was erected in the second half of the 19th century on the site of the previous one, known as the Great Synagogue, destroyed in the great fire that ravaged Kalisz in 1852, particularly affecting the Jewish quarter. The next synagogue, like most Jewish public buildings in Kalisz, was demolished by the Germans in 1940.

(more information under the photos ↓)

The Reform Synagogue 1940 r. Source: zdjęcie pochodzi ze zbiorów Hili Marcinkowskiej, Wirtualny Sztetl.

The Reform Synagogue. Source: Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu, Spuścizna T. Martyna

The Reform Synagogue. Source: Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu, Spuścizna T. Martyna

The Reform Synagogue. Source: Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu, Spuścizna T. Martyna

The Reform Synagogue. Source: Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu, Spuścizna T. Martyna

The Reform Synagogue. Source: Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu, Spuścizna T. Martyna

The Reform Synagogue. Source: Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu, Spuścizna T. Martyna

The Reform Synagogue 1936 rok. Source: Akta m. Kalisz Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu.

The Reform Synagogue 1936 rok. Source: Akta m. Kalisz Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu.

The privilege to build a synagogue was granted to the Jewish citizens of Kalisz as early as 1358 by King Casimir the Great. The first house of prayer was most likely wooden. In 1659, a magnificent brick synagogue - the so-called Great Synagogue - was built by the defensive walls. It was destroyed by two major fires in the 18th and then in the 19th century. The building constructed after the 1852 fire was more modest. It was a medium-sized rectangular structure with a gabled roof and a characteristic ridge turret. Its interior, however, housed valuable religious artifacts of great value. The main building was surrounded by annexes used for economic and ritual purposes.
This synagogue, mainly serving Orthodox Jews, was looted by the Germans during World War II, who stole many valuable religious items, and then destroyed and demolished the building. The remaining furnishings were thrown into the nearby Babinka canal, which was being filled in at the time. To further humiliate the Jewish population, the Germans forced the believers to carry out the demolition themselves. In the 1950s, a building for the municipal committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR), known as the “party house,” was erected on the site. From the 1990s onward, the building housed a bank, and today, after renovations and interior reconstruction, it operates as a hotel.

The first synagogue, granted by King Casimir the Great, was built by the Jewish people of Kalisz in the second half of the 14th century. It was wooden, though it is not certain that it stood in the same place where later synagogues were built. In 1659, the Jewish community purchased land in the area of today’s Rozmarek, and there, next to the city walls (then called Pod Murami Street, later Nadwodna Street), they built a magnificent brick synagogue. The impressive interior was decorated with Renaissance stucco in the Kalisz-Lublin style. Similar decorative elements were used in Catholic churches in Kalisz, such as St. Nicholas’ Church and the Franciscan Church of St. Stanislaus, the Bishop and Martyr. The synagogue was known as the Great Synagogue - an appropriate name given its size. It was partially destroyed in a city fire caused by Kalmyk and Cossack troops pursuing the defeated Swedes after the Battle of Kalisz. Rebuilt again, it burned down along with thirty Jewish community-owned houses during the great fire of 1852. Thanks to the mobilization of Kalisz’s followers and financial support from the city council, it was rebuilt relatively quickly, although in a simpler form. Unlike the reformed synagogue on Krótka Street, it mainly served Orthodox Jews, including Hasidim. The building lacked architectural features typical of synagogues. It was a medium-sized, rectangular structure with a gabled roof and a distinctive ridge turret. Its only prominent features were large semicircular windows. Inside were religious items of great artistic value, including 16th-century Aron Ha-Kodesh Torah ark curtains, embroidered with gold and silver, many silver-forged Baroque and Rococo candlesticks, and other objects. The synagogue was surrounded by annexes for economic and ritual purposes, and nearby stood the ruins of the medieval city walls. Between the synagogue and the Talmud Torah school stood another Renaissance building, a Jewish school. It was not rebuilt after the destruction of Kalisz during World War I. The synagogue itself was demolished in 1940 by the Germans, who forced the Jewish population of Kalisz to carry out the demolition. After World War II, in the 1950s, a building in the Socialist Realism style was erected in its place, used by different levels of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) committees. After the fall of communism, the remodeled building was used by a bank, and from 2025, following another major renovation (which thoroughly transformed the interior), a hotel now operates on the site.

Author of the text:

Piotr Sobolewski

Project partners:

Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu

Muzeum Okręgowe Ziemi Kaliskiej

Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna