11. St. Anne Street 7 — Tempel

In the 19th century, there was a split in the previously homogeneous Jewish community of Tarnów. New religious currents and ideas began to spread, associated with orthodox, conservative and reform branches of Judaism. This caused such friction within the Jewish community that separate synagogues and prayer-rooms were built for different groups.

One of them was the Tempel, where Jews associated with the Jewish enlightenment movement (Haskalah) gathered for their own religious services. Affiliated with the Israelite Temple Association, they managed to build their own prayer house before 1884. According to historians, it was the only Jewish prayer house in Tarnów with an organ.

During the Second World War, Tarnów’s Tempel was destroyed and, for many years, the only indication of its existence was an empty square, which is now a car park.