Synagogue

The synagogue of Russ stood at the steamer landing stage. Since October 2015, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach (second picture) has stood in roughly the same place.

The courtyard for the synagogue was purchased for 8,000 thalers donated by the landowner Tiel-Winckler.

The synagogue was a small, one-story building built in the neo-Romanesque style with a sloping roof and rectangular floor plan. There was arcade decoration in the side elevations. Corner pilasters were one of the characteristic elements. The architect Ignatz Grünfeld was most likely inspired by a synagogue in Wolfhagen. There were 200 seats for men and 120 seats for women.

The synagogue in Pinne (Pniewy) was built in 1913 according to the design of Alfred Grotti. During the occupation it was devastated by the Germans. After the war, the building was converted into a cinema. In the process, a two-story facade was built in front, covering the previous one. All the original windows were bricked up. From the east, a small semicircular apse survives, which used to house the niche of the Aron Ha-Kodesh. In more recent times, the building was used as a commercial facility.

The synagogue was built in 1895, after the land was purchased in 1894. The construction and the land cost a total of about 90,000 marks. "The community was therefore entirely dependent on its own help and it was decided to take out a loan of 50,000 marks against pledging the synagogue property" (Kohstall 1929, p.48). Thus, the indebted congregation was not able to hire a rabbi until 1904.