Public Judaism in a Northern Light : Constructing Monumental Synagogues in Nineteenth-Century Sweden

Abstract

This dissertation examines the construction of monumental synagogues in nineteenth-century Sweden as a means through which Jewish communities articulated public presence, negotiated belonging, and translated aspirations for civic inclusion into durable architectural form. Focusing on five purpose-built synagogues in Gothenburg (1855), Norrköping (1858), Stockholm (1870), Karlstad (1899), and Malmö (1903), the study situates synagogue building at the intersection of architecture, communal governance, and changing urban and legal contexts.

Rather than treating these buildings as static symbols or solely as stylistic expressions, the dissertation adopts a process-oriented approach, drawing on extensive archival records, that reconstructs how synagogue projects unfolded over time. Through close analysis of building committees, internal debates, interactions with architects and authorities, and public inaugurations, it traces how questions of location, visibility, scale, and ritual accommodation were negotiated within each community. Particular attention is paid to the role of lay leadership, the use of non-Jewish architects, and the ways in which architectural decisions intersected with issues of emancipation, reform, and public credibility. Through stratigraphic readings of both documents and structures, the dissertation traces how each synagogue embodies successive layers of decision‑making, compromise, and aspirations.

The study argues that these synagogues constituted deliberate interventions into the Swedish urban landscape: civic monuments through which Jewish communities presented themselves as modern, respectable, and integrated citizens. While all five buildings share a common strategic repertoire –monumentality, central urban siting, engagement of recognised architects, and reformed interior spatial arrangements – their forms diverged significantly. These variations reflect distinct local conditions, communal compositions, and visions of public Judaism: cosmopolitan ambition in Gothenburg, quiet civic integration in Norrköping, national representation in Stockholm, vernacular adaptation in Karlstad, and marked, modern communal presence in Malmö.

By analysing synagogue construction as an arena of negotiation rather than a linear expression of ideology, the dissertation contributes to broader scholarship on Jewish emancipation, urban religion, and material culture. By positioning Sweden within broader European currents of Jewish modernity, the dissertation demonstrates that Swedish Jews were not peripheral recipients of architectural or ritual innovation but active participants in shaping modern Jewish visibility. The synagogues they built serve as material testimonies to the plurality of Jewish civic strategies in a northern European context.

• author: Leviathan, Daniel
• supervisor: Karin Zetterholm; Vladimir Levin; Ola Wetterberg
• opponent: professor Coenen Snyder, Saskia, University of South Carolina
• organization: Jewish Studies
• publishing date: 2026
• type: Thesis
• publication status: published
• subject: History of Religions; Architecture; History
• keywords: public Judaism, synagogue architecture, modernity, agency, Jewish emancipation, nineteenth-century Sweden, belonging, material culture, architectural process, reform Judaism, Judaism, Swedish Jews, Swedish Jewry, Synagogues, Jewish architecture, Jewish history, Swedish Jewish history
• pages: 451 pages
• defense location: sal C121, LUX, Helgonavägen 3, Lund.
• defense date: 2026-03-18 14:15:00
• ISBN: 978-91-90055-66-3
• ISBN: 978-91-90055-67-0
• project: Public Judaism in a Northern Light: Constructing Monumental Synagogues in Nineteenth-Century Sweden
• language: English
• LU publication?: yes
• id: 8c7a1782-1d7f-4f52-9bc3-de905ec2dab8
• date added to LUP: 2026-02-17 14:42:14
• date last changed: 2026-02-18 11:40:17