Synagogue Barczewo (Wartenburg)

This is currently the only preserved synagogue in the Olsztyn district.
The synagogue of the East Prussian village of Wartenburg in the district of Allenstein was built in 1894 in the classicist style. Before that, there was probably a prayer house here since 1847. In 1937, the Jewish community of Barczewo sold the synagogue to a private person. Thanks to this sale and re-functioning, it was not destroyed during Kristallnacht. During World War II, the Nazis established a prison in the building, which existed from 1941 to 1945. After the end of the war, the synagogue building stood abandoned and dilapidated for several years. In 1976-1978 the synagogue was thoroughly renovated and a branch of the Museum of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was established in it. The next user of the building was the socio-cultural association "Pojezierze" and from 1980 to 1996 the Warmia and Mazury Weaving Center under the direction of Barbara Hulanicka, the author of tapestries decorating the Vatican and the White House in Washington. In the following years the building, which was in disrepair, was thoroughly renovated. Today, the synagogue houses the art gallery "Synagogue", run by members of the association "Pojezierze". The activities take place for heating reasons only during the summer season.

Architecture
. The two-story oriental brick synagogue building was built on a roughly rectangular ground plan in neoclassical style. The richly decorated facade, divided by pilasters, with large window openings terminated with a semicircle and a five-sided apse, has been preserved.

Inside, the main prayer hall has a flat ceiling and a tiled floor. Also preserved are a babiniere supported by two columns with wooden balustrade and almost all liturgical utensils and books. Text mostly taken from the Polish Wikipedia article on 05.09.2022