Designed in a neo-Byzantine style,
its building was started in 1867 and
it was inaugurated in 1874.
On April 21, 1890, Alfred Dreyfus
married Lucie Hadamard. During
the German occupation, on the
night of 2 to 3 October 1941, a
bomb exploded in the Great
Synagogue during a night of attacks
on several synagogues in Paris.
After the war, the synagogue began
a renovation, which was not
completed until 1967. This
synagogue, owned by the city of
Paris, has been classified as a
historical monument since
December 11, 1987.
The instrument was built by Merklin around 1875.
It was at this time that the organ was introduced
into the French Hebrew cult. It was imported from
the Germanic countries where it was then
common to use the organ for the Hebrew liturgy.
Around 1960, Gutschenritter replaced two stops
and added a Plein jeu IV to the Great. Since then,
the instrument has only had some maintenance
works by Jean-Marc Cicchero.
Nowadays, it serves mainly for the liturgy of
weddings.