Hiroshima's Peace Memorials.

The most important Japanese tour for my grandchildren in 2024 was Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial. My children and I heard my father’s WW2 history many times, but my grand children knew nothing from the family. So they read the following from Atomic Archive before they left Australia.

Product Exhibition Hall and dome by Czech architect Jan Letzel built 1915

taken from Motoyasu Bridge in 1939

 

By late May 1945, the Manhattan Project Interim Committee  selected the Japanese city/cities to bomb. While President Truman had hoped for a purely military target, some advisers believed that bombing an urban area might break the fighting will of the Japanese people. While plans for the invasion of Japan were going ahead, preparations were being made to use an atomic bomb. The Little Boy bomb was ready for delivery by July 31

The Target Committee’s primary concern was showing off the bomb's power to the maximum effect, especially since Hiroshima was a major port and a military headquarters i.e a strategic target. Post-bomb photos could be taken and since Hiroshima had not been damaged by earlier bombing raids, these photographs would present a clear picture of Little Boy’s damage.

The Potsdam Declaration was issued by the U.S, Britain and China in late July 1945, calling for the unconditional surrender of Japan. When the Japanese military ignored their threat of prompt and utter destruction, U.S Major Gen Groves drafted orders to use the bomb and sent them to General Carl Spaatz, Commander of Air Forces in the Pacific. With approval by Army Chief Staff George Marshall, Secretary of War Stimson and Pres. Truman, the order to drop Little Boy on Hiroshima was given.

Note that some atomic bomb researchers at Met Lab in Chicago tried to stop its use. Ironically Dr Leo Szilard had led atomic bomb research in 1939 against Germany, but since the threat of a German bomb was over, he started a petition to Pres Truman so save Japan. With 88 signatures on the petition, Dr Szilard circulated copies in Chicago & Oak Ridge, only to have the petition quashed at Los Alamos by physicist Dr Oppenheimer.

Early on 6th Aug 1945 an American bomber, Enola Gay, left U.S administered Tinian Island south of Japan for Hiroshima. Piloted by Col Paul Tibbets, the 4-engine plane and 2 observation planes carrying cameras and scientific instruments, flew out. Enola Gay was the plane carrying a bomb, one that was expected to massacre everything within a 5 ks of the city centre. Measuring 3+ ms long and 75 cs across, it weighed c4.5 tonnes and had the explosive force of 18,000 tonnes of TNT. Col Tibbets told his crew that the plane was carrying the world's first atomic bomb!

By 7AM the Japanese radar-net detected the U.S aircraft, and the alert was broadcast throughout the Hiroshima area. Soon after, a weather plane circled over the city but there was no sign of bombers. The Japanese citizens began their daily work, thinking the danger had passed. Soon the Enola Gay was cruising over Hiroshima and by 8 AM, Japanese radar again detected B-29s heading toward the city. Radio stations broadcast another warning for people to take shelter! Enola Gay crew could see the city appear below and were messaged that the weather was perfect over Hiroshima. The Little Boy exploded, instantly killing up to 140,000 people and leaving up to 100,000 more to die slowly from radiation. Over two-thirds of Hiroshima's buildings were demolished. Hundreds of fires, ignited by the thermal pulse, combined to produce a firestorm that had incinerated everything within 10 ks of Ground Zero.

The Genbaku Dome, now Hiroshima Peace Memorial,

was one of the few structures left (barely) standing.

Guardian

Smoke is still hanging and the charred bodies are scattered, 

10th Aug 1945 

 

In 1945 Hiroshima was the first city in the world to be hit by an atomic bomb. Endless lives were lost, and those who barely managed to survive suffered great mental and physical damage, dying from radiation sickness. Exactly 4 years after the bomb was dropped, it was decided that the destroyed area would not be redeveloped but instead devoted to peace memorials.

The Peace Memorial Museum opened in 1955 with the aim of conveying the tragedy caused by the atomic bomb to people all over the world, contributing to the abolition of nuclear weapons and lasting world peace. This Museum collects and exhibits the belongings of survivors, as well as photos and materials showing the devastation caused by the bomb, introducing the history of Hiroshima before and after the bombing, and the nuclear age world.

Thus today Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park is a prominent feature of the city, a large park of 120,000+ sq ms. Pre-bomb, Peace Park area was the political and commercial heart of the city; now its trees, lawns and paths starkly contrast with the surrounding central business district.

The park's main facility is the Peace Memorial Museum. The two buildings of the museum survey the history of Hiroshima and the advent of the nuclear bomb. Naturally the main focus is on the events of 6th Aug: dropping the bomb and its outcome in human suffering. The personal details displayed are very upsetting for most visitors.

The A-Bomb Dome/aka Hiroshima Peace Memorial, is what remains of the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the building that promoted Hiroshima's industries. When the bomb exploded, it was one of the few buildings to remain standing, and remains so today. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the A-Bomb Dome is a clear link to Hiroshima's past.

Between the Museum and the A-Bomb Dome is the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims. The Cenotaph is an arched tomb for those who died because of the bomb, either because of the initial blast or exposure to radiation. Below the arch is a stone chest holding a register of these names, of which there are 220,000+. Every year on the anniversary of the bomb, a ceremony is held at the park. Speeches are made, wreathes are laid at the Cenotaph and a moment of silence is observed at exactly 8:15 AM.

Many reviewers criticised the Peace Memorial Museum’s layout. But when the visitors enter the first part of the museum, it feels as if they are cut off from the outside world; walking through the exhibition not a leisurely stroll but a rugged test, fitting the disturbing exhibition and displays. And sometimes it is extremely crowded and hard to be able to read the displays. Nonetheless the museum is a must-see in Japan, a place that changes lives.

Children's peace memorial

Bombed areas filled with Memorial Park now

City centre in the background

The old Product Exhibition Hall is now

Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Museum

Rippon Lea, Victorian estate & gardens

Ripponlea Mansion was built for Frederick Sargood (1834-1903), a man who became rich selling soft-goods on the Vict­orian goldfields, wife Marian and 9 children. The proper­ty design­ed by Joseph Reed, Melb­ourne's most important architect then. Rippon Lea was built when there was much weal­th in Victoria from the gold boom. This led to the building of many orn­ate mansions in Melb­ourne and rural areas, called the Vict­or­ian Ital­ian­ate style. Sarg­ood was a pract­ical Victorian, laying a sop­his­ticated und­er­gr­ound wat­ering system for the house which had its own el­ectric­ity sup­­ply and internal toil­ets. Sargood was very int­erested in orchids and ferns, so his water and drain­age system made the gardens thrive.

 The mansion had 15 rooms when the Sargoods moved in. Plus 7 maids, but­ler, 7 gardeners, coachman and a gr­­­oom. The garden was complex, includ­ing a large lake, large shrub­ber­ies and fl­ower gardens, orchards of his­t­orical fruit var­iet­ies, a fern­ery and rose gardens.

Rippon Lea

Wiki

In 1868 Sargood bought 27 hectares of scrub to establish his dream home and garden. In 1869 construction began on the 2-storey, 15 room mansion made from polychrome brickwork. This was a new material then when most import­ant Victoria build­ings were built in stone or stuc­coed brick. The ground floor had the draw­ing & dining rooms, study and breakfast room. An unusual design feature was an out­door pavil­ion adja­cent to the dining room. On the 1st floor were 6 bedrooms, dres­sing room, nursery, earth closet and 2 bathrooms! In an adj­acent sin­gle storey wing was a gun­room, maid's room and day nursery for the 12 children.

Frederick Sargood

Victoria’s first Minister for Defence

Rippon Lea Estate

Sargood entered the Victorian Legislative Council in 1874 and was a member for 23 years. Sadly Marian Sargood died delivering her 12th baby in 1878, so Frederick took the family and 3 staff to Britain, retur­n­ing to Australia in late 1882. In 1883 he rejoined Parliament and became Victoria’s first Minister for Defence.

Meanwhile Sargood had remar­ried and had another child, so the Melb­ourne property had to be well renovated; he made changes and additions that refl­ect­ed his incr­ea­sed wealth. The dining room was extend­ed, a 2nd floor was added to the rear wing, a tower was built, the kit­ch­ens were remod­el­led and a veranda was added to the west front. Buil­ding be­gan on a new, enlarged fernery. The drainage system was ext­end­ed and the gard­ens re-designed in a less formal style.

Although he used different architects over a 30-year period, the style used was unusually consis­tent. In 1897 the house was renovated, the front entrance being rem­od­elled into its present form. Many of the decor­at­ive features from that era remain eg the office was ad­ded and the dining room was redecor­ated. The house that had had 6 bed­rooms now had 11, some for the staff, as was a large bathroom. Rippon Lea was used as an enter­tainment place for 500+ people, including over­seas dig­nitaries. Sar­good was knight­ed in 1890. His business cont­in­ued prosp­ering in Aust­ralia and New Zealand, and he was elected to the first Aust­ral­ian Senate in 1901. While on a trip to N.Z he became ill, dying in Jan 1903. That year Rippon Lea was sold for £20,000 by Sargood's widow who took her daughter back to Britain  permanently. 

Lounge room

behance

Ballroom

polka dot Wedding

A syndicate headed by Victorian Premier Thom­as Bent, bought the estate and furniture, but Bent never liv­ed there. He used Rippon Lea for enter­tain­ing and ch­ar­ity events, then he began subdividing and selling off some of the land. Bent was forced from political office in 1908, dying in 1909 while un­der invest­igation for involve­ment in land scandals.

In 1910 the property was bought by Benjamin Nathan, a man wealthy from the furniture business, own­ing 15 Maples Furniture and Music Shops in 2 states. He moved to Rippon Lea with his wife and daugh­t­ers, returning the house to a family home. A private entrance lodge was built off Hoth­am St so he could continue to use the house for charity events eg in aid of WWI-related caus­es. Nathan intro­duced more native plants into the large garden, employing 15 gardeners, and building a large conservatory and 14 glass­houses. Nathan died in 1935, leaving it all to a daughter.

 

Fernery

Rippon Lea Estate

View of the lawn and pleasure gardens from the veranda

Wiki

 

In 1921 daughter Louisa Nathan married lawyer Timothy Jones and had 4 child­ren together. She modernised the home via Hol­lywood films: a new kitchen built on the ground floor, the dining room remodelled, modern tiled bathrooms in­stalled, the original ball­room was replaced with a sw­imming pool and the billiard room be­came a new ballroom. The new en­t­ran­ce hall brought in more natural light. Turkish carpets were replaced by leaf-green ones, and the colour scheme softened. Rooms had an elegant neo-baroque style, again famous for entertaining and charity functions.

Timothy Jones died in 1958 and the widow sold some land to the ABC for their tv studios. In 1963 the Federal Government put a Comp­ul­s­ory Ac­qu­isition Order on acres of land to ext­end the ABC. There was a huge dem­onstration against the acquisition so in 1963 Mrs Jones wrote her will; at her death, the estate would go to the Nat­ional Tr­ust.

The Trust DID inherit the estate, the Acquisition Order was with­dr­awn and Rippon Lea honoured Mrs Jones’ com­mitment to preserve her gift to the Nation. It was first opened to the public in Feb 1974 and 100,000 people went through in 3 mon­ths. Visitors saw pea­cocks roaming around while geese, swans and other water-birds populated the lake. Ch­auff­eur Ken Webb lived in the Coach House flat.

Since the National Trust inherit­ed the prop­erty, it has been open daily to the public and popular for wed­dings. It has been used for films due to the in­teg­rity of the historic buil­d­­­ings and 7 hect­ares of pleasure gar­dens, magnificent trees and shrubb­er­ies, flower gar­dens, large fern­ery and lake. Hed­ges separated the ornamental gar­d­ens from the practical areas eg large kitchen gardens, stables.

 Rippon Lea is one of Australia’s grand, self-suff­icient suburban est­at­es, 20 mins from Melbourne’s CBD. Listed on the 2006 National Heritage Reg­ister, it has most of the historical land­scape and arch­it­ectural interest preserved.

Museum Opening of 2021: Carnavalet Paris

The Apollo Awards have been celebrated since 1992 with fine ceremonies. It’s still as important as ever to celebrate outstand­ing ach­ieve­ments in the museum world. Yet senior museum com­m­entators warn­ed that mus­eum culture may not endure with its cur­rent sense of purp­ose; funding for both national and regional instit­utions being squeez­ed still further. Thus the awards proclaim the museums have set the standards to which others should aspire.

Carnavalet Paris

C16th Renaissance architecture

Urban Sider

Each year, in selecting Museum Opening of the Year, Apollo Magazine judges created a shortlist of six museums. In 2021, the following museums were shortlisted.

1. Casa Balla Rome, opened June 2021. From 1929 til he died in 1958, Giacomo Balla lived in this Roman flat Via Oslavia. Having been left to his daught­ers, the flat was a living laboratory for the Futurist’s work, its walls, furniture and utensils one big canvas. Casa Balla was opened to the public for the first time.

2. Denver Art Museum, re-opened Oct 2021. Its display space greatly improved with the re­furbishment & expansion of Gio Ponti’s fortress-like building, first opened 50 years ago. It gained a Welcome Cent­re & new conservation studios. And its galleries have been rehung to reflect asp­ec­ts of DAM’s holdings, from Latin American art to Alaskan art.

3. Humboldt Forum Berlin, opened July 2021. After long delays and a cost of c€644m, this reconstruct­ion of the C18th Berlin Palace, damaged by the Soviets after WW2, finally op­ened. Now there is a permanent display of the coll­ections of the former Eth­nologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiat­ische Kunst.

4. Kunsthaus Zürich, re-opened Oct 2021. After 12 years of planning, construction and £163m spent, David Chipperfield’s extension to Kunsthaus Zürich has doubled its space for showing art made since 1960. And note the works by Monet, Degas and Van Gogh from the collection of Emil Georg Bührle. It’s now the largest art museum in Switzerland!

5. Musée Carnavalet Paris, re-opened May 2021. At Baron Haussmann's urging, his hôtel particul­ier in the Marais housed a 1880 museum dedicated to Paris’ his­tory. Af­ter a expensive (€50m) five-year redesign, Car­n­avalet displaying more of its collection, rangeing from C18th interiors to burning Notre-Dame 2019

The ceiling, Salons La Riviere by Charles Le Brun,

Carnavalet

6. Santa Barbara Museum Art, re-opened 2021. This West Coast museum celebrated its 80th birthday with a 6-year $50m renovation. The 1912 building was updated to bet­ter meet the needs of a modern museum, the project providing new space for its permanent collection, from Roman antiquities to modern art.

The Museum Opening of the Year winner in 2021 was announced.  Carnavalet Museum was always an impressive Parisian museum, full of anti­quarian clutter. Its atmosphere is insep­arable from its history, as the unexpected by-product of Baron Hauss­mann’s tough levelling of swathes of the city. Out of that de­struction arose the desire to conserve, albeit somewhat haphazardly.

Carnavalet’s collections were shaped by its donors’ eccen­tric­ities, whose relics of French history took many forms. Since it opened to the public in 1880, the museum’s holdings have rap­idly grown, unsystematically. Every Carnav­al­et fan has a favourite corner of the museum eg the miniature ivory Guillot­ines, crammed into the Revolutionary Memorabilia annex.

Carnavalet gallery

The reopened museum created a more accessible vis­it­or experience with­out sacrificing the sense of discovery. Enter via a hall full of shop signs from over the cen­turies, a vibrant record of historic Par­isian trades. The  museum's chronological scope has been ex­panded; a visit that used to begin in the C16th now goes into a basement with relics of Neolithic Paris. And the museum pushes into the cont­emp­orary, with exhibits linked to the recent terrorist attacks and the fire of Notre-Dame.

Wendel Ballroom

Carnavalet

The vast renovation allows a larger portion of the collect­ions to be visible and not stored away. So the curators worked hard to make the whole museum more logical through new exhibition rooms, stream­lined displays, an easier circulation through the galleries and elegant access points with sp­iral staircases. Old favourites are among the exhibits eg Proust’s bed. The period rooms have never looked more opulent, a monument to the style and grace of former resident Madame de Sévigné. Carnavalet is Paris’ ultimate palimpsest, an enthralling city museum. Thanks to the Lonely Planet for the photos.

Museum Opening of the Year – Apollo Awards 2023: Sydney Modern, Art Gallery of New South Wales

Apollo's Museum Opening of the Year, 2024: Fondation Bemberg, Toulouse

great Victorian food market - Leadenhall

If locals and tourists had to select the four most famous markets of London, they would probably be Leadenhall, Billingsgate, Smithfield & Spitalfields. In particular, people know the market at Smithfield, within central London, which is still the country's largest meat market.

In the east of the City is my favourite, Leadenhall Market, a fresh food market that is fully covered. There has always been a market place on the site, but the details are sketchy. It was not until 1309 that the Manor of Leadenhall was first listed as belonging to Sir Hugh Neville. We have to assume that the name was chosen because the manor house was roofed with lead.

                                   

Leadenhall Market, interior

Photo credit: David K Hardman Photography

By 1321, the area around Leadenhall manor was a known meeting place for poulterers. They were joined in 1397 by cheese-mongers. Then for some reason the freehold was handed to the City of London in 1411. The site grew in importance as a granary, and a chapel was built to service those coming to the market. The records show that the market continued to be used for the sale of fish, meat, poultry and corn.

Leadenhall's chequered career fell in something of a heap in the later 17th century - it seems inevitable that the Great Fire of London destroyed parts of the site in 1666.

But in the end, the fire didn't ruin the market's perfect location and in recent centuries, Leadenhall St continued to be an important thoroughfare. It has been the home of Lloyd's of London, the London Metal Exchange and East India House, headquarters of the East India Company. Leadenhall Market is in Gracechurch St, just near the corner of Leadenhall St, and the Bank of England is very close.

I am not sure what the original market looked like, but in 1881 the old building was bulldozed and rebuilt by architect Sir Horace Jones (1819-87). It is not an accident that Jones had also been the architect of Smithfield Markets (in 1868) and Billingsgate (in 1877) – his reputation was rock solid.

As you'd expect from an important, late Victorian structure in a mercantile heart of London, the latest version of the building was elaborate. Its wrought-iron, repetitively arched structure had a roof of long glass skylights. But of course it would be - by then, even the magnificent ferneries and palm houses being built in mid Victorian stately homes and public gardens were confections of wrought iron and glass! Galleria Vitorio II in Milan was slightly more classical and slightly less Victorian, but the dates (1865-77) were similar.

Solo Craft Fair, in the Leadenhall Market

alongside Pizza Express 

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In Leadenhall the market was restored in 1991 - the ornate roof structure was coloured in maroon and cream, and the open spaces were given beautiful cobbled stonework. Leadenhall Market still sells its traditional fare: game, poultry, fish and meat, but now they have added cheese shops, wine shops and restaurants. 

Other bloggers have been particularly impressed with the historical tavern. The Lamb Tavern, situated at the heart of Leadenhall Market, was first built in 1309 by the same Sir Hugh Neville. The tavern's site however has much grander origins than the C14th market situated beneath it. Clearly the Lamb Tavern has been a place for slaking thirsts near the market for a very very long time. I have only been to one party in the market tavern, but it was memorable !

Lamb Tavern,

Real Weddings

The local authority, the City of London Corporation, owns and runs Smithfield Market and Leadenhall Market. But it is interesting, and unexpected, that the City of London Corporation also has formal responsibilities beyond the City's boundaries. It owns Old Spitalfields Market and Billingsgate Fish Market, both of which are within the neighbouring London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

For gorgeous photos of the architecture, see Instagram.

Szeged Synagogue Budapest 1903

Szeged (pop 165,000), 175 ks south of Budap­est, was one of 9 mid-sized cities in a 3-year project called “Rediscover and reveal the conc­eal­ed Jewish heritage of the Danube Region.” It prom­oted Jewish herit­age tourism and education in Hungary, Roman­ia, Sloven­ia, Serbia, Croatia, Germany, Bosnia-Herzeg­ov­ina and Mont­en­egro. Rediscover cost €1.8+ million project, with fund­ing mostly from the European Regional Devel­opment Fund, started June 2018-May 2021. It was realised by partner­ships of local govern­ments, NGOs and Jewish communities in the EU’s Danube Reg­ion, an area along the river to its hinterland, from the Black Forest to the Black Sea.

 Szeged Synagogue

The largest synagogue in Hungary was Dohany St Budapest, designed by the architect Ludwig Förster. Rightly so, since Budapest had a large proportion of the pre-Holocaust Jewish community in Hungary. 

In the Szeged Jewish community office, Jewish Heritage Europe/JHE dir­ector Ruth Gruber met President of the Jewish commun­ity and representat­ives of the municipality engaged in the Redis­cover Project. Budapest architect Lipot Baumhorn (1860–1932) designed 23 syn­agog­ues in the old Hungarian lands, now forming parts of Slov­en­ia, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia and Romania. They included 4 in Budapest.

The domed and multi-turreted New Szeged Synagogue (1903) was very fine indeed. This turn-of-the-century Hungarian blend­ of Art Nou­v­eau and Historicist styles was the Magyar Style. It was Baum­horn’s mag­num opus, built for the 6,000+ Jews who lived in Szeged pre-Holocaust.

NB a new find! The original blueprints and documents for the maj­esti New Syn­ag­ogue were uncovered in 2018 by resear­ch­ers doing the catal­og­uing, indexing and digit­isation of Szeged Community Arch­iv­es. The archives had the draw­ings, plans and documents of Rabbi Imm­anual Löw (1854-1944), Baumhorn and textile designer József Schl­esinger.

Baumhorn designed even the smaller decorative details and the trees to plant in the surrounding garden. He coll­ab­orated with R’ Immán­uel Löw, a published scholar of wildlife and miner­als, and an expert in Biblical symbolism. In Szeged, every painted panel, stained glass, inscription and carving was filled with a symb­olic meaning that Löw analysed. See Upon the Doorposts of Thy House: Jewish Life in East-Central Europe (1994) by JHE director Ruth Gruber .

Windows of Celebrations in the New Synagogue of Szeged was edited by K Frauhammer and A Szentgyörgyi, and published by EU’s Interreg Dan­ube Transnational Programme. It des­cribed the history of making the synagogue’s stained glass windows and the rich symbolism that artist Manó Róth created after close consultation with Baum­horn and with Rabbi Löw. Note the synagogue’s festive cycles in the windows which address­ed even the smallest design details such as colours and patt­erns.

 Synagogue interior renovated

 Structurae

They estimated the cost to fully restore the inter­ior i.e rewiring, fixing plumbing and restoration of the sumptuous decor­at­ion, at c€6.6 million. The government announced in 2014 that it had alloc­ated €3.1 million and the rest of restoration was carried out with funding from the Szeged Synag­ogue Foundation. Thus the lavishly ornate interior of the grand New Synagogue in Szeged was restored in 2016.

 

Central dome 

Reddit

Ark

Pinterest

The multi-million euro restoration of the exterior centred on the en­orm­ous domed building, and included repair of the external towers, roof and facade. The fence preciou stained glass windows incorporating rich Jewish symbolism were repaired, and the Biblical garden designed by Rabbi Löw, who consulted closely with Baumhorn on many facets of the design and lavish decorative elements, was replanted.

The hardback book included a brief history of the construction of the synagogue, with the news­paper report of the inaugural ceremony in May 1903. Even more importantly, the printed book included beautiful photo­graphs of the windows by János Rómer, print­ed on transparent sheets to sim­ul­ate stain­ed glass in Baum­horn’s Szeged mast­er­piece.

Open-air exhibit in Szeged’s cen­tral Klauzal Sq­uare, Oct 2020.

World Jewish Travel

The synagogue, owned by Szeged Jewish community, is a city landmark oper­ated as a tourist attraction with visiting hours and also a cultural venue for concerts and other events.

As well as the synagogue, Baumhorn designed other buildings in Sz­eged, including the Jewish community complex and the ceremonial hall in the cemetery. The municipal government has been the REDISCOV­ER pro­j­ect’s lead partner has been engaged in local projects. These ranged from organising Jewish heritage it­in­eraries and cultural festivald, to planning an ex­hibition marking Lipot Baumhorn’s 160th birthday in 2020. Some pro­j­ects were postponed because of COVID, but a travelling exhib­ition about the Szeged syn­ag­ogue opened in Budapest at Baumhorn’s Páva St Synagog­ue, now part of the city’s Holocaust memorial museum complex. Baumhorn was also honoured with an open-air exhibit in Szeged’s cen­tral Klauzal Sq­uare in Oct 2020. It was all organised by Hungary’s Museum of Archit­ect­ure and Monum­ent Protection Documentation Centre.

Baumhorn also designed Szeged’s Jewish community headquarters building across the street, as well as the chapel in the Jewish cemet­ery. In fact half of the synagogues Baumhorn designed or renovated still stand, including:
1] Budapest’s Dozsa Gy­orgy ut, now a sports hall;
2] domed synagogue Novi Sad Serbia, now a concert hall;
3] Nitra Slovakia, now a concert hall & Holocaust memorial;
4] Lucenec Slovakia in ruins, re­stor­ed as a cul­t­ural centre;
5] Szolnok Hungary is now a con­cert hall and cultural centre, with a memorial bust of Baumhorn in front; and
6] Braşov synagogue Romania 

The Jewish community headquarters building is across the street from Szeged Synagogue.

Corfu: Venetian, British, Greek, Jewish.

Corfu Island sat in the eastern Medit­erranean, off the western coast of Greece, Albania and near South Italy, occupying a milit­ar­ily and economically strategic point. Corfu was therefore conquered often: by the Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Vene­tians, Sicilian kings, Ottoman Empire, Napoleonic armies, Britain and the Greek Kingdom.

neoclassical Achilleion Palace

built for Empress of Austria, 1888

Shiny Greece

Before France's Revolutionary Wars, the Ionian Sea Islands had been in Re­public of Venice. The 1797 Treaty dissolved the Republic of Ven­ice and Corfu was ann­ex­ed to the French Republic as a French depart­ment. In 1798-9 the French were expelled by a joint Russo-Ottoman force. The occupying forces founded an island republic with some independence from 1800-7, with Greek as the local language. 

The Ionian Islands were briefly re-occupied by the French, but in 1809-10, the UK defeated the French fleet and capt­ured some Greek Islands. After Napoleon, many countries wanted to control this prize island. Thanks to the aid of a Greek General, an 1815 Treaty signed in Paris recog­nis­­ed Ionian islands under exclusive British control.

The United States of 7 Ionian Islands Federation was cr­eated in 1817. Under the rule of a Lord High Com­m­is­sion­er, the Corfu gov­ernment was appointed by the British monarch and then the Supreme Council of Justice was established.

The first (1815-23) British high commissioner was Sir Thomas Mait­land, a rather repressive ruler who quickly stir­red complaints from locals. Yet the British era (1815-64) was one of the most thriving eras in Cor­fu’s history. The 5th Earl Guil­ford estab­lish­ed Corfu’s first Greek Uni­versity in 1824. The estab­lish­ment of new schools went ahead and by 1850 there were 200. Corfu created its first Phil­har­monic Orch­estra and Fine Arts School, then built vast public works: prisons, hospit­als, marsh clear­ance, widened road net­works, public aqueduct systems and centres of com­merce.

In 1888, the Empress of Austria visited Corfu and decided it was the ideal location for her own palace. This opulent neoclassical Achilleion Palace is thus an imperial residence inspired by Greek mythology. The classical Greek statues that surround it are monuments to platonic romanticism.

British rule ended when an 1863 treaty demanded Britain renounce the Ion­ian islands. In March 1864 ag­ents from UK, Greece, France and Russia pledged the transfer of sover­eignty to Greece, under the new­ King George I of the Hellenes. And with the Lord High Commis­s­ioner’s procl­am­ation, the Ionian Islands were unit­ed with Greece (May 1864). The island pros­pered economically.  

Old fortress, barracks and British Naval Hospital

Trip Advisor
 

Clearly Corfu Town was a unique blend of hist­ories as many nations had contr­ol­led it over time. The public buildings of the Venetian rule blended well with narrow winding streets, bars, shops and secluded squares. Cul­tural sites were preserved eg Greece’s King Geor­ge I’s St Michael-George Palace (built 1819-2). Designed by Col George Whitmore, it sits atop a hill outside the capital. The pub­lic can see elegant interiors where the mus­eum dis­pl­ays artworks, stat­ues, historic­al and arch­aeol­og­ical treas­ures. Corfu had become part of the European world. The Venet­ians had built two fort­resses; the Old Fort included the British barr­acks and an imp­osing British Naval Hospital. And see the British Garrison Church, built as a Greek Doric Tem­ple. 

Palace of St. Michael and St. George
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What about the Jewish community? In 1864, after Corfu was handed to Greece, local Jews were eman­cip­ated and received civil rights. They lived in relative freedom and com­fort, and made great efforts to relate well with Chr­is­t­ians. Most of the Corfu Jews happily dealt in trade.

In 1891 a blood libel was spread against local Jews but Corfu police didn’t stop the rioters! In May 1891 Corfu’s Jews sat inside their homes as if gaoled with closed windows, comm­erce ceased, pov­erty increased, and the synagogues were sealed. 22 Jews were massacred in the 1891 pogroms and in response, Austria, Fr­ance and England sent warships to the area to protect their citizens. French, Ottoman and other agents pro­t­ested the Greek govern­ment’s failure to block rioting, with the German cen­tral bank warn­ing Greece that unrest could damage its currency. After the blood libels, half of Corfu’s Jews left the island. Most of those who left had money, immig­rat­ing to Italy or Egypt; those remaining were mostly poor.

narrow winding streets, bars,

Crystal Travel

 

Traditional housing

Airbnb

 

Yet afterwards the lives of Corfu Jews were mostly peaceful. They loved life on the picturesque island, and Corfu author Albert Cohen (1895–1981) described it in longingly in his novels. The Jewish Quarter was Cohen’s birthplace so a street is named after him. In the 1930s, despite right-wing nationalism and anti-Semitism in Greece, Jewish life in Corfu went on normally. They had a rabbi, syn­ag­ogues, bu­r­ial society, charity societies, ritual baths and schools. In Ap 1933 Mizrachi was allowed to use a floor in the commun­ity building to set up a night school where the comm­unity leaders demand­ed Mizrachi ensure the students were study­ing both Jewish & Greek his­tory. The com­m­unity also had social org­an­­is­ations, and annual balls.

Remaining British citizens left Corfu in 1939, just before the outbreak of WW2 and the subsequent ruthless German occup­at­ion of the island. In Ap 1941, Fascist Italy conquered Corfu, but the Italians made no dis­tinction between Jew and Gentile. It worsened in Oct 1943, when Italians left and Nazi Wehr­macht took over. SS units under command of Jurgen Str­oop ordered the Jews to present themselves before a town official thrice weekly, and to pay a heavy tax to the Germans. Greek Christians invaded the Jewish neighbour­hood, and the 100 Jews hiding among Christian neighbours were handed over to the Nazis! In June 1944, Jews were locked in the city square, the Nazi sold­iers herding them into boats from Cor­fu to an Athens prison camp, and from there on trains to Birkenau death camp. Of the 1,700 Jews living in Corfu during the Nazi occupation, only 200 were not murdered. Of the survivors, 30 moved to Isr­ael and others intended to follow. Thus an old Jewish community, which had survived for 700+ years, mostly ended.

Jewish district

kimkim

 

Pre-Holocaust there had been 4 synagogues. Post-war only 1 was left standing... barely. In 1946 the Greek gov­ern­ment ordered the governor of Corfu to return all property to the Je­wish com­munity, including pub­lic build­ings used by the community, private homes and shops. But most of these sites were in ruins, and only later was the synagogue restored by local auth­orit­ies. 

interior, only surviving synagogue

The Librarians

Greece, Albania 

& Corfu flagged (56ks x 18ks)

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Corfu Old Town was designated a World Heritage Site in 2007. The island population now is 100,000.

Timișoara Romania: Europe Culture capital

Serbian Orthodox Church and Union Square
unique facade, small towers, beautiful bells and icons.
Built in C18th in the Baroque style.

Timisoara is in Western Romania, near the borders with Hungary and Serbia, and 600 km from Bucharest. The Carpathian Mount­ains (where my in-laws came from) lie to the north. The Timiș, Bega and Poganiș Rivers flow through the county and the city was named for the River Timis. From a small fort-town  in Castrum Temesiensis, first recorded in 1212, Timişoara in the C14th became a fortress. The town was sacked by the Tatars, but its citadel was rebuilt and used as the residence of Charles I of Hungary (1309–42)

In the Middle Ages the area was conquered by the Turks and remained in their hands until the Austrians took it in 1716, thus the many fortifications on Liberty Square. After a 1718 treaty, the region was governed from Vienna and colonised with non-Magyars, mostly Swabian Germans. The city withstood a siege by Hungarian revolutionaries in 1848. Occupied by Serb­ia in 1919, it was allotted by the Treaty of Trianon (1920) to Romania.

Banat Village Museum, opened 1967

Includes Village Civic Centre, Alley of Ethnicities and the Living Museum.

Fabric Synagogue, Neo-Moorish

opened c1840

Romania's 3rd largest city became a European Capital of Culture for 2021. After the win was announced, the mayor noted that the budget for the project would be €48.5 mill­ion: €20 m from Local Councils, €5 m from the County Coun­cil, €1.5 m from the European Commission, and the rest from the State. The money went to Multi-plexity, Palace of Culture, Arta Cinema, Dacia Cultural Cen­tre, Studio Art Hub, Art Theatre Hall, Fratelia Community Cult­ural Centre, Freidorf Commun­ity Cen­tre and Iosefin Water Tower Cul­tural Centre.

Timișoara is part of one of the most ambitious cultural projects of the European Union, helping EU-nations to learn about each oth­er’s cultures. And this cultural city has several tert­iary institutions, state opera, phil­harmonic orchestra, ballet and library. There are parks along the navigable Bega Canal and Rose Park is very rom­antic . The National Theatre of Timișoara is und­ergoing res­t­oration. 

The modern city represents a unique mix of architectural styles and cultural traditions. A principal building is the heroic Roman Catholic Cathedral (1736–73). Near the cathedral there is a monu­m­ent dedicated to those killed during the 1989 revolution. There is also Memorial Museum of Revolution whose exhibits there are unif­orms, historical documents, newspapers, lib­rary, revolut­ion­aries’ person­al belongings and historical films.

The Orthodox Serbian Cathedral (1748, restored 1791), opposite Victory Square, became the spiritual centre for Serbs and Roman­ians. This imposing Baroque building has a unique facade, small towers, bells and icons.

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral (1936-46) was built in Victory Square with green and red tiles, arranged in a mosaic design. A monument dedicated to those who died during the 1989 Revolution is in front of the cathedral. The Cathedral is home to many art religious objects, including old Romanian icon paintings.

St George Catholic Cathedral, baroque

Opened 1774

An interesting cultural institution is Banat Vill­age Museum. It is a massive cultural open air com­plex; its main ex­hibits are farm buildings c100 years old. Beautiful pottery and wooden cabins were moved to the museum from around the city, so that exciting activities could include folk events.

Romanian National Opera, opened 1875

Burned down in 1880 and rebuilt in 1882

Burned in 1920 and rebuilt in 1923

 The Roman Catholic Cathedral (1736-54) was built in Union Square by Fisher von Erlach, a fine example of Viennese Bar­oque style. The main altar was done by Michael Angelo Unt­er­berger, director of Fine Arts Academy in Vienna. The Opera House (1875) was designed by Viennese architects   Fellner and Helmer who designed concert halls in Buda­pest, Vienna and Odessa. The frescoes in the concert hall were inspired by Romanian history and folk tales. Joseph Strauss began as Musical Director in Timisoara. The city claims to have had the first public water supply in Romania, the first to have street lighting in Europe and one of the first in the world to have horse-drawn trams. The nickname “Little Vienna” seemed appropriate.

The St Catherine of Alexandria Church has a long, remark­able history. In the crypt of this medieval church, King Charles Robert of Anjou's wife Catherine was buried in the C13th. The church was owned by Franciscan monks until it was demolished after 1723, and the new church of St Catherine was built in the Baroque style. From 1887-9 the church was rebuilt, though this time adap­t­ed to the Neo-classical style, while retaining Baroque ele­ments.

Romanian Orthodox Cathedral
built 1936-41
filled with stunning religious objects and paintings

The Chamber of Commerce (1850) worked out of various city build­ings. But in 1930 they began building the palace that became the new headquarters of the Chamber. The Chamber of Commerce & Industry was designed by Laszlo Szekely. Downstairs there is space provided for shops, while offices are located on the first floor and the council chamber and the other 3 floors are resident­ial. The palace has great decorative elements, including a great tri­angular gable roof.

Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916) ruled that Jews across the Austro-Hungarian Empire were to be freed and issued an edict all­ow­ing them to own land and hold any job. Fabric is a historical district, well known for its factor­ies, thus becoming the most populated district in the C19th. It was becom­ing a multicultural neigh­bour­hood, and the build­ing of the Fabric Synagogue 1895-99 was historical - the com­bin­at­ion of Neo-Moorish architectural styl­es with a HUGE floor that seated 3000! The square build­ing, with many towers and cupol­as, was conn­ected to the ex­ter­ior walls through deep semi-circular arches. In 2001 the Jew­ish Com­munity transfer­red it to the Timisoara Philharmonic Soc­iety for their first concert, held in 2005.

Timișoara is also a commercial centre and has developed indust­rial­ly since WW2, including electric motors and electrical apparatus, textiles, farm equipment, chemicals. There are 2 tim­ber centres,  vineyards and wineries.

Map of Romania
Note Bucharest (in the south) and Timisoara (in the west)

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Anti-government demonstrations erupted in Dec 1989 and sparked a re­v­olution, toppling Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu from pow­er and executing him. Luckily many of the old Baroque buildings still make Timisoara special. 

Jaipur, India's pink World Heritage City

Construction on India’s mag­nificent Amber Fort began in 1592 by Mahar­aja Man Singh, a commander in the army of the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was built so the Mughal ruler could spread his power to cover the king­doms of Udaipur and Jodh­pur. So when Mah­ar­aja Bishan Singh (1672-99) later took the throne, he was the first ruler of Amer to take over with­out any status in the Mughal nobility. Bishan didn’t care since his lineage was traced back to the Rajput clan who came to power in the C12th. In any case, the Jaipur kings had always preferred diplomacy over arms in dealing with the Mughals, since their kingdom was located too close to the Mughal power cen­tres of Delhi and Agra.

Furthermore Bishan knew that his son Jai Singh would reach great­ness if the lad was well educat­ed, trained by the best Indian sch­ol­ars in art, science, phil­osophy and mil­it­ary aff­airs. Note that Maharaja Jai Singh II (1688-1744) was a young lad when he came to power, after his very young father Bishan died in 1699.

Jaigarh Fort 

In time Jai Singh became a great leader and Jaipur city got its name from the new Maharaja. When Jai Singh was 15, Jaipur City st­arted to acquire architectural wonders. Jaigarh Fort was designed and per­fectly created in 1726, its huge structure being a true reflect­ion of a glorious royal era. Naturally the fort was adorned in royal beauty, adding to the city’s rich culture. The red sand­stone was already start­ing to be a predominant material used in Rajput and Mughal forts. 

The might of the Mughal Empire was then at its peak. So Jai Singh II formed a tough front against the Mughals by al­igning with other Raj­put states. Peace reigned, the kingdom prosp­ered and its borders expanded. It housed some of the country's most ornate royal palac­es, structures designed in early C18th that still impress today.

However city expansion tested the limited water sources, and credit for Jaipur’s growth success went to the chief arch­itect from Ben­g­al. With Jai Singh’s ap­proval, they grew the city on strong scient­ific princ­ip­les, laid out according to the Shastra-ancient archit­ectural manual. Con­ceiv­ed as a com­mercial centre of Rajasthan State, it was ground-breaking due its care­ful city planning.

After Jai Singh’s death in 1744, his sons struggled for power. Without a monarch, the kingdom was open to invasion; neigh­bouring Rajput states and the Marathas tried to grab large areas of the kingdom. So Jaipur remained sur­rounded by a city wall and def­ensive forts. The city's influential sites continued in a Rajasthani arch­it­ect­ural style, combining the com­plex con­struct­ion of Hindu Rajput building techniques with the visible symm­etry of Mughal design.   

Hawa Mahal

Later one red sandstone palace became very popular: historic Hawa Ma­hal in 1799 as an extension of City Pal­ace by the then King of Jaipur, Mahar­a­ja Sawai Singh; see the building’s straight facade and hund­reds of win­dows.

 

City Palace

Like the Mughals, Jai­pur maintained good relations with the Bri­t­ish and in the 1857 War of Independence, remained loyal to the Raj. Yet the British gradual­ly undermined the independ­ence of the state and exercised great­er control over its admin­is­tration. So when Prince Albert was soon to make his first visit to India in 1875, the Mah­araja thought it was a great oppor­t­­unity to decorate Jai­pur as a wel­­coming gesture to im­pr­ess Queen Vic­tor­ia's husband Prince Albert in India. The maharaja really want­ed the Pr­ince to visit Jaipur, to build strong rel­at­­ions with the U.K. The Mahar­aja Sawai Ram Singh II’s favourite wife loved the old pink co­lour sch­eme and convinced her husband to pass a law making it il­le­gal for buildings to be painted any other colour than Jai­p­ur Pink. This 1877 law helped transform the dirty city into a totally lovely city. And still so remains today.

Colonial rule helped this Maharaja of Jaipur (reigned 1835-80) who was one of the richest and most pow­er­ful men in India, an Indian man who im­pressed the British court like no other. This Maharaja had the whole city painted pink ter­r­acotta, the colour of hosp­it­al­ity. And he also had the lav­ish Albert Concert Hall built in 1876, designed by Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob after London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and named in Prince Albert’s honour. It stood in the lovely Ram Niwas Pub­lic gardens. During Prince Albert’s long 17 weeks visit in 1876, they conducted royal duties across the Indian sub-continent, plenty of Indian rulers gave Albert expensive gifts to show their hos­pit­ality. Only when Albert visit­ed Jaipur and saw its gorg­eous pink sites, he called it Pink City and the nickname remained.

 Albert Hall

Jaipur City grew rapidly! Maharaja Ram Singh (ruled 1835-1880) built Ramgarh lake to further supply water to the big city, when the city’s population was spreading beyond its walls. In 1922 Jaipur’s Maharaja Man Singh II (reigned 1922-47) ascended the throne and built civic buildings like schools, secretariat, hospitals etc. After ind­ependence, Jaipur merged with the states of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer to become the greater Rajasthan union. Man Singh II was given charge of the new province but in 1956, Jaipur became the capital of the state of Rajasthan.

Jaipur became a World Heritage site when UNESCO Director General Aud­rey Azoulay, in Albert Hall Jaipur in 2020, presented the do­c­umentation to Min­ister of Urban Development. From forts to pal­aces, streets to festiv­als, Jaip­ur’s charm in all its shades of pink still provide mesm­erising heritage and architecture. Its population is now over 3 million people.   

Mahal Water Palace

Map of Jaipur in India

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