Jewish Prague

The complex of the Jewish Quarter includes the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Town Hall, the Ceremonial Hall and six synagogues: the Old-New Synagogue, the Pinkas Synagogue, the Maisel Synagogue, the Spanish Synagogue, the Klausen Synagogue and the High Synagogue. The Jewish Quarter arose in the 13th century, but its recent outlooks are given by the great slum clearance and its reconstruction on the turn of 19th and 20th centuries. Although only some of the significant sights with long Jewish history have been preserved, they form one the best-preserved Jewish sights in Europe.

The Old Jewish Cemetery

was established in the first half of the 15th century. The oldest tombstone, which marks the grave of the poet and scholar Avigdor Karo, dates from the year 1439. Burials took place in the cemetery until 1787. Today it contains some 12,000 tombstones, al though the number of persons buried here is much greater. The picturesque goups of tombstones from various periods emerged through the raising of older stones to the upper layers.

The Jewish Town Hall

in Josefov, Prague, is an 18th century Rococo building that is the center of the local Jewish community. It is perhaps best known for its two clocks, one on a tower with Roman numeral markings, the other, lower, with Hebrew numbers and hands that turn counterclockwise, just as Hebrew reads from right to left.

The Ceremonial Hall

he building housing the fomer Ceremonial Hall and mortuary of the Old Jewish Cemetery was built in a pseudo-Romanesque style in 1911-12 to a design by architect J. Gerstl. As part of the Jewish Museum, the Ceremonial Hall of the Prague Burial Society Hevrah Kaddishah (founded in 1564) later became an exhibition venue.

Old- new Synagogue

it is the oldest synagogue of the Jewish town and of the Central Europe and the second biggest in the whole Europe (the biggest one is in Toledo). This early Gothic synagogue with rich stone decoration was built in the 13th. century and up to the present it is used as an oratory and the main synagogue of the Prague´s Jewish Community.

Pinkas Synagogue

After the Second World War, the synagogue was turned into a Memorial to the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia murdered by the Nazis. On its walls are inscribed the names of the Jewish victims, their personal data, and the names of the communities to which they belonged. During work on the underground waterproofing of the building, a discovery was made of vaulted spaces with an ancient well and ritual bath. The Communist regime deliberately held up renovation work and the inscriptions were removed. Not until 1990 was it possible to complete the building alterations. Finally, in 1992-1994, the 80,000 names of the Jewish victims of Bohemia and Moravia were rewritten on its walls.

Maisel synagogue

The Maisel Synagogue was built in 1590 - 1592 by the Mayor of the Jewish Town, Mordechai Maisel, who funded the extensive Renaissance reconstruction of the ghetto. All that remained intact of the original Renaissance layout was the groundplan of the tripartite central hall with the upper-storey women´s section. The Maisel Synagogue is currently used by the Jewish Museum as an exhibition venue and depository.

Spanish Synagogue

was built in 1868 on the site of the oldest Prague Jewish house of prayer ("the Old Shul"). It was designed in a Moorish style by Vojtěch Ignátz Ullmann. The synagogue has a regular square plan with a large dome surmounting the central space. On three sides there are galleries on metal structures, which fully open onto the nave. The remarkable interior decoration features a low stucco arabesque of stylized Islamic motifs which are also applied to the walls, doors and gallery balustrades. František Škroup, the composer of the Czech national anthem, served as organist here in 1836-45. By reopening the Spanish Synagogue - closed for over 20 years - on the 130th anniversary of its establishment, the Jewish Museum in Prague has completed one of its most ambitious projects to date.

Klausen Synagogue

"Klausen" was the name of the originally three smaller buildings, which Moredehai Maisel, Head of the Prague Jewish Community, had erected in honour of a visit from Emperor Maximilian II to the Prague ghetto in 1573. The Klausen Synagogue held an important place in the history of Prague´s Jewish Town. It was the largest synagogue in the ghetto and the seat of Prague´s Burial Society.

High Synagogue

The house was designed by P. Roder in Renaissance style (supervising builder was master Rada). It was designed as a preaching place for councilors of Jewish town hall. In the center there were bimah, surrounded by seats. Mordechai Maisel gave pieces of Torah and silver tools to the synagogue. The stucco ceiling was gothic ribbed vaulting.