The Queen Street Synagogue, Oudtshoorn



On our day trip to Oudshoorn we walk pass a beautiful stone building in Baron van Rheede Street.  The gate was open and we decided to take a closer look. 



We walk around the building to the other side and found that this was a Synagogue. 

In the beginning Jews whorshiped in private homes but by 1886 there was about 250 Jews in Oudtshoorn and the decition was made to build a Synagogue.  The plots and stones were donated and building commerced on 26 January 1888 and by December the Synagogue was inaugurated.



The first Hewbrew school in South Africa was established in Oudtshoorn in 1904.  Part of the building complex includes the school building.

The Queen Street Synagogue - Der Englishe Shul – is still in use today.


Information from the Jewish Community in Oudtshoorn’s website.

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