The synagogue was constructed from 1824 to 1826 . The luxurious Stadttempel was fitted into a block of houses and hidden from plain view of the street , because of an edict issued by Emperor Joseph II that only Roman Catholic places of worship were allowed to be built with facades fronting directly on to public streets . This edict saved the synagogue from total destruction during the '' Kristallnacht '' in November 1938 , since the synagogue could not be destroyed without setting on fire the buildings to which it was attached . The Stadttempel was the only synagogue in the city to survive World War II , as the Nazis destroyed all of the other 93 synagogues and Jewish prayer-houses in Vienna
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Stadttempel