The Ashkenazi Jews come to Sarajevo at the time of the Austro-Hungarian occupation.

They differ from Sephardic Jews not only in language, but also in their ways of thinking, professions, and outlook on the world, culture, rituals and customs. They immediately established their own community in Sarajevo and practiced their homes and in rented premises.

Ashkenazi Synagogue, Sarajevo

They built their temple according to the project design of the architect Karlo Parzik, and it was opened in 1902. It functions today as the only active synagogue not only in Sarajevo but also within all of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is a basilica with three naves and four large towers on the corners, which come to pear-shaped points. The central hall has a flat ceiling and is illuminated by numerous windows.

The gallery for the women was supported by several thin columns, and in the sixties it was partitioned at that height, so that the upper floor served for liturgical service, while the space which housed the “aron hokadesh” was partitioned by a massive diagonal wall with a horseshoe arch, which faced the sanctuary.

Ashkenazi Synagogue, interior details

The temple was built in an eclectic pseudo-Moorish style, which was manifested in the inclusion of a relief ornamentation in the façade, the design of the windows, the shape of the arches, and in the wall paintings in the interior.

Ashkenazi Synagogue, interior

In 1927, this temple underwent extensively restoration, and in 1933 on the west side of the temple, the building of the Jewish community center was built, in the style of European modernism, which today houses the cultural-humanitarian association of La Benevolencija.