At the beginning of 20th century, the board of Brno Jewish community decided to build a new synagogue. About eight thousand Jewish inhabitants of the city could use two synagogues and several smaller houses of prayer at the time, the premises could no longer accommodate all the worshippers. There was also a lack of a place that would preserve the respect for tradition while combining it with modern life, including the expressions of an increasingly popular national Jewish identity. For its administrative needs, the community purchased a house on Koliště, in whose courtyard towards Ponávka the synagogue was built. Regular services began just before the Jewish New Year, on September 13, 1906.
The architecture of the New Synagogue was fundamentally influenced by mainstream Christian sacred architecture. It basically looked like a church. The bimah, the place where the holy biblical texts are read from the Torah scroll, was moved to the eastern front of the synagogue and the pews were arranged facing it. But the separation of men and women during prayers was maintained, the women's gallery was on the balcony.
Photograph of the exterior of New Synagogue from the collections of the Jewish Museum in Prague.