In the heart of Kobersdorf stands a building that is far more than just a monument: the renovated former synagogue. It is not only an architectural testimony to past centuries, but also a lively place of culture, science and education. With its new purpose, it will become a space that preserves history and at the same time inspires the present and the future.

Burgenland is sending out a strong signal with the former Kobersdorf synagogue: It acknowledges its Jewish roots, the preservation of its traditions and its responsibility towards the victims of Nazi terror. The building is therefore not only a place of remembrance, but also a starting point for dialog, reflection and encounters.
Today, the former Kobersdorf Synagogue is open to a wide range of events - from scientific symposia to cultural programs - as long as they are thematically linked to Jewish history and culture. Its role in educational work is particularly impressive: programs are developed for school classes that bring history to life and, if required, also include the Jewish forest cemetery. In this way, remembrance becomes an active process that reaches and sensitizes young people.

Former Kobersdorf synagogue © Landesmedienservice Burgenland

In October, the former synagogue in Kobersdorf is presenting a varied program that combines the quiet character of the place with artistic impulses. Musical evenings pick up on the melancholy as well as the hope of the season, lectures allow voices from the past to be heard, and film screenings open up perspectives on farewells and new beginnings. Anyone who enters this place senses that the former Kobersdorf synagogue is not a silent relic, but a resonating space. It invites you not only to remember history, but to think about it - in exchange, in shared experience, in the confrontation with art and culture. In this way, a place of remembrance becomes a living space of hope and togetherness.

Long Night of the Museums
The "Long Night of Museums" is taking place for the 25th time this year. From 6 p.m. to midnight, those interested in culture have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of offers and visit numerous participating museums and galleries with just one ticket. The former Kobersdorf Synagogue is taking part in the Austria-wide event for the fourth time this year and is using the opportunity to present itself to a broad public.
October 4, 2025

Movie night
The Danube Exodus
Péter Forgács | Hungary/Netherlands 1998
60 min - De, hebr., engl. UT In 1938, Slovakian Jews are evacuated on Danube ships and shipped to the Black Sea. A short time later, one of the ships takes part in the evacuation of Germans who had to leave the Romanian territories in Bessarabia after the Hitler-Stalin Pact. The captain of the ship filmed both expulsions. Hungarian director Forgács has compiled a harrowing contemporary document from this footage, which also shows everyday scenes on board the ship and offers an insight into the lives of the expellees.
Admission: free
October 6, 2025

Movie night
Let's keep it
Burgl Czeitschner | AT/US 2018 - 100 min
"Let's keep it!" is a documentary film about the Republic of Austria's still problematic attitude towards the restitution of properties stolen by the Nazis and transferred to Austrian ownership after 1945. The film is also a tribute by the director to the victims of Austria's darkest chapter in recent history. A chapter that seems to be extended to a certain extent when it comes to the restitution of stolen properties to the descendants of Holocaust victims. The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Burgl Czeitschner.
October 13, 2025

Choir workshop "Sing ojf Yiddish"
A cozy choral singing day will take a look at Jewish choral literature. Roman Grinberg, musician and choirmaster of the Vienna Jewish Choir, explores Yiddish folk songs and Hasidic chants with the participants.
October 19, 2025

SHALOM KOBERSDORF: Vienna Jewish Choir - Prof. Roman Grinberg
Concert on the occasion of the Jewish New Year
The revival of Yiddish song is at the heart of the Vienna Jewish Choir. Through music, it builds bridges between different cultures and celebrates the diversity of the community. This is also reflected in the repertoire: traditional Yiddish, Hebrew and Sephardic songs are given new life and made accessible to a wide audience. Under the artistic direction of Prof. Roman Grinberg, the Vienna Jewish Choir stands for musical excellence paired with deeply felt "Yiddishkeit". Grinberg, who himself comes from a family of musicians and has been a formative figure in the modern Jewish music scene for decades, not only knows how to preserve traditional music, but also how to develop it further with innovative arrangements and new compositions.
October 19, 2025

Movie night
Back to the fatherland
Katharina Rohrer, Gil Levanon | Germany 2018 - 79 min
Gil, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and Kat, the granddaughter of a Nazi officer, have been friends for many years. In their documentary "Back to the fatherland", they meet Dan and Guy, two young Israelis who, like so many of their generation, leave their homeland and build a new life in Germany and Austria of all places - the countries where their grandparents were persecuted and murdered. This decision is met with incomprehension, particularly from family and friends. In the course of the film, the filmmakers document these conflicts and embark on a journey into the past.
This will be followed by a discussion with director Katharina Rohrer.
October 20, 2025

Biographical sketch of a Nazi perpetrator
In the course of the advance of the Red Army and the approaching defeat of the National Socialist regime, numerous crimes were also committed against prisoners and Hungarian-Jewish forced laborers in Burgenland in the spring of 1945. The fury of the collapsing dictatorship was also directed against those who wanted to oppose the fanatical commitment to the National Socialist final battle. For example, National Socialist functionaries carried out unprecedented terror against their own population, particularly at regional and local level. At the turn of 1944/45, Nikolaus Schorn was assigned as political leader to the construction of the south-east wall on the Burgenland border. In the end-time mood of the Third Reich, his fanaticism, his master race mentality and his penchant for violence unleashed themselves in numerous killings of forced laborers.
October 22, 2025

Musik.GEDENK.Schule - Summer retreat! To life! L 'Chaim!
Central Burgenland was a popular summer resort region for Jews from Vienna. The evening is in memory of this tradition. Music to entertain, music to celebrate, music to amuse, kosher food and Yiddish. The salon orchestra of Kobersdorf, which existed until 1934, the Jewish violinist Maurus Knapp, who was born in Kittsee, and Gustav Pick from Rechnitz, the composer of a well-known Viennese song, will be commemorated.
Music: Yiddish songs, Viennese songs, folk music, light music, played by pupils and teachers from the music schools.
Admission: free donation
October 23, 2025

Open Day at museums in Burgenland: Former Kobersdorf Synagogue
For the 22nd time, the "Open Day" will take place in Burgenland museums on October 26, 2025. All museums and collections taking part in this initiative of the Department of Culture can be visited free of charge from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., unless other opening times are indicated. The former synagogue in Kobersdorf opens its doors on this day from 2 pm to 4 pm. As part of the themed tour, you will learn details about Jewish Kobersdorf in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as the structural design and restoration of the magnificent building.
October 26, 2025