Eva's garden: 35) Jewish Prague

Jewish Prague

JOSEFOV, The Jewish Quarter

Though the old ghetto was razed in the 19th century, much of the area's fascinating history is preserved around the Old Jewish Cemetery, while the newer streets, such as Pańžská, are lined with many delightful Art Nouveau buildings.*

I take the self-guided tour with map and audio-guide and a ticket that admits me into:

Staronová synagoga/The Old-New Synagogue

Pinkasova synagoga/ The Pinkas Synagogue

Klausová synagoga/The Klausen Synagogue

Obradní sín/The Ceremonial Hall

Španelská synagoga/The Spanish Synagogue

Stary židovsky hrbitov/The Old Jewish Cemetery

The Old-New Synagogue

Built around 1270, this is Europe's oldest synagogue and one of Prague's earliest Gothic buildings. Today it is still the religious centre for Prague's Jews. Originally it was called the New Synagogue until another synagogue was built nearby, but this was later destroyed.

Rabbi Löw had his own chair where this distinguished 16th century scholar and Chief Rabbi sat.*

The Klausen Synagogue, very grand, now a museum.

This high baroque structure (1694) with its fine barrel-vaulted interior and rich stucco decorations, houses Hebrew prints and manuscripts and an exhibition of Jewish festivals and traditions. Adjoining is a tiny medieval castle-style building erected as the ceremonial hall of the Jewish Burial Society.*

Cemetery from the Ceremonial Hall (Chevra Kaddisha) window.

Old Jewish Cemetery

This remarkable site, founded in 1478, is a moving memorial to Prague's once sizeable Jewish community. Due to lack of space, people were buried up to 12 layers deep. Today, over 12,000 gravestones are crammed into the tiny area, but over 100,000 people may be buried here.

Rabbi Löw's tombstone is the most visited in the cemetery.* I saw many stones and prayers on its ledge put there by his Jewish visitors.

Crockery of the Prague Burial Society, founded in 1564, that carried out ritual burials and performed charitable works.*

Prague is so different to the other post-Holocaust European cities I've been to -Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Warsaw, Thessaloniki, Istanbul, Tirana, Zagreb. Is there a more powerful Jewish history/community feeling than other places I've been to in Europe due to the survival of the ancient synagogues?

I learned that Jews here aren't generally observant, unlike the Polish descendents in Melbourne, for example.

The Pinkas Synagogue

The second-oldest synagogue in Prague (1535), its core is a hall with Gothic vaulting. A memorial to the Jewish-Czech citizens held at Terezin concentration camp and later deported to other Nazi extermination camps, it has the names of the 77,297 who did not return inscribed on its walls. The building also houses an exhibition of children's drawings from Terezin.*

Names of Holocaust victims on Pinkas Synagogue wall

My family name is Lichtenstein. Though we're not related to E. Lichtensternova, we effectively have the same name.

I was moved to tears and said Kaddish.

Upstairs is the exhibition of children's drawings from Terezin, examples below.

The Spanish Synagogue

The Spanish Synagogue is the newest synagogue in this part of Prague. It was built in flamboyant pseudo-Moorish style in 1868, replacing Prague's oldest synagogue, the Old School (Stará škola). The arabesque and stucco decorations are reminiscent of Spain's Alhambra. It houses an exhibition on the history of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia.*