Paper short abstract:

Architect Lipót Baumhorn co-designed Szeged's synagogue (in Hungary, 1903) with dr Immánuel Löw rabbi and botanist who applied his immense knowledge in the decoration of the synagogue. Löw designed the synagogue garden as an organic part of the synagogue, presenting the flora of Israel and Hungary.

Paper long abstract:

Synagogues are usually not built in gardens or parks, yet this is what happened in Szeged, Hungary in 1903, and it is by no means a coincidence. The co-designer of the synagogue was the chief rabbi of Szeged, one of the greatest botanic scholar of his time, specialised in the plants of the Jewish tradition. He wrote several books both as a rabbi and a scientist. His most famous work is probably Die Flora der Juden (“The flora of the Jews”), which deals with the various plants mentioned in Jewish sources with a focus on Rabbinic literature. Thus he applied his knowledge to the iconography of the synagogue and the plants in the garden. The garden around the synagogue was designed according to Immánuel Löw’s plans presenting the flora of Eretz Israel and Hungary.

The garden was destroyed in 1944, and the synagogue was empty after the Holocaust since Szeged lost most of its Jewish population. Recently, between 2015-18 it was renovated from the outside, and the garden too was reconstructed. 35 of the 76 plants were replanted, those that are frost tolerant. These include cedar, amber, pomegranate, fig, yew, apple, almond, rowan, wild grape, thuja, myrtle, linden and birch. Researchers identified the original flora based on the speeches of the chief rabbi, the plant motifs of the windows of the synagogue, and the Jewish Folklore Bulletin of 1907-1908. The Szeged synagogue might be the only synagogue standing in a garden.