Prague Travel: A Walking
Tour of Prague’s Jewish Quarter
One of Prague’s key attractions is the Jewish
Quarter, the former Jewish ghetto of the city. So
on this bright, yet blustery day I strolled from
my hotel on Wenceslas Square over to Old Town Square
to meet my personal tour guide for the day who would
be meeting me for an informative tour of the Jewish
Quarter.
A look at Prague's Old Town Hall
I met Richard just after 10 am a few steps away
from the Astronomical Clock and learned that he
is a political science student who also does tours
for Prague Walks, one of Prague’s most renowned
tour guiding companies. Walking tours with a personal
guide are a fantastic way of getting to know this
fascinating city.
Richard, my expert guide
Standing right in the middle of Old Town Square,
Richard started talking to me about Franz Kafka,
one of Prague’s most important personalities
and an important connection to Prague’s Jewish
history. Born in 1883 to a middle-class German-speaking
Jewish family, Kafka’s writings became some
of the most important literary works of the 20th
century, even though during his lifetime only a
few stories were ever published.
Beautiful medieval architecture on Old Town Square
All of Kafka’s famous novels (The Trial,
The Castle and Amerika) were published posthumously,
a move initiated by his friend Max Brod, who was
a famous Czech-Jewish author and the executor of
Kafka’s will. Brod’s decision to publish
Kafka’s work was actually against Kafka’s
will. The anguished author had actually mandated
that his literary works be destroyed upon his death,
something that Brod fortunately prevented from happening.
Old Town Hall with the famous Astronomical Clock
Kafka’s writings are often dark and mysterious,
in great part due to his lifetime battles with anxiety
and depression. In 1924, Kafka died of consequences
of tuberculosis, not even 41 years old. Richard
explained that Kafka often met with members of the
“The Prague Circle”, a secret group
of friends and writers, in a building right here
on Old Town Square. Kafka came of age during the
last stages of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a time
that was characterized by an oppressive feeling
of government control and surveillance, something
that affected Kafka greatly.
North side of Old Town Square, with the Goltz-Kinsky
Palace on the right
A little bit further north, on the other side of
the stunning Church of Our Lady, is a magnificent
Rococo palace that was built by an aristocrat between
1755 and 1765. During Kafka’s youth the Goltz-Kinsky
Palace was actually a German speaking grammar school
while today it hosts collections of the National
Gallery. Richard also pointed out that the building
is not in line with the other buildings on this
side of the square, rather it is protrudes ahead
of the other buildings. Apparently, Count Goltz
had bribed several councilmen to secure this prominent
position, and by the time the other councilmen noticed
it, the building was almost finished and the town
council did not want to destroy it.
The Jan Hus Monument
In the middle of Old Town Square is a monument
to Jan Hus, the 15th century priest and religious
reformer who was burned at the stake in 1415 after
being accused of heresy. Hus was a key contributor
to the Protestant movement and strongly criticized
the Catholic Church for its opulence and corruption.
The execution of Hus eventually led to the Hussite
Wars that lasted from 1420 to about 1434. Hussites
were an important force in the Czech lands until
the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620, the beginning
of the Thirty Years War, when this Bohemian Protestant
movement was crushed and Catholicism was restored
with force. Twenty seven of the Hussite leaders
were executed on Old Town Square, and 27 white crosses
can still be seen embedded into the cobble-stones
of Prague’s main square.
Detail on the wooden portal of Old Town Hall
The battle for religious freedoms has formed an
important part of Prague’s history, not just
for Protestants but also for Jews. Our actual start
to our tour of the Jewish Quarter was a few minutes
west of Old Town Square, next to the house where
Franz Kafka spent his childhood. Just to the north
of this location is the Jewish Quarter, which is
a triangular district wedged in between the Vltava
River and Old Town.
Our tour to the Jewish Quarter begins
Richard explained that Jewish settlers had lived
in the Prague area as early as the 10th century.
The first pogrom against Jews was recorded in 1096,
and over the years Jews were concentrated in a walled-in
ghetto. During the Middle Ages Jews were forced
to wear a yellow star to identify them, and they
were not allowed to work in agriculture which made
many of them enter careers in banking and money-lending.
Regulations also required that they live in segregated
neighbourhoods called ghettos. Jews experienced
much suffering throughout the centuries, and one
of the worst pogroms happened in 1389, when 1,500
people were massacred on Easter Sunday.
Beautiful streets inside Prague's Jewish Quarter
One of the most celebrated figures of Prague’s
Jewish history is Mordecai Maisel, the Jewish Mayor,
who became the financial advisor of Emperor Rudolph
II. He built the Jewish Town Hall in 1586 in Renaissance
style as well as the Maisel Synagogue which opened
in 1592. Both of these buildings still stand today.
The Maisel Synagogue
Around the same time another figure played a critical
role in Prague’s Jewish Quarter: Rabbi Loew
was an important Jewish scholar, mystic and philosopher.
Legend says that Rabbi Loew created a golem, a living
being, from clay which was intended to protect the
Jews from anti-Semitic attacks. Rabbi Loew is immortalized
in a statue that adorns the new City Hall of Prague.
The statue of Rabbi Loew on Prague's new city hall
Habsburg Emperor Josef II improved the living conditions
of the Jews with the Toleration Edict of 1781 which
allowed for greater religious freedom, and in the
mid 1800s the quarter was renamed “Josefstadt”
(German) or “Josefov” in honour of this
emperor.
Architectural details in the Jewish Quarter
By the late 19th century the hygienic and sanitary
conditions in the Jewish Quarter had become unbearable,
and the municipal authorities decided to demolish
the entire area and reconstruct it with new apartment
buildings between 1893 and 1912. Only the Jewish
Cemetery, the Old Jewish Town Hall and six synagogues
were left of the original Jewish Ghetto.
Today the Jewish Quarter is one of the most popular
residential areas in Prague
As a result of this reconstruction, Prague has
one of the most stunning collections of Art Nouveau
buildings in Europe, along with Paris and Vienna.
Despite recurring anti-semitic events, Prague was
a hotbed for Jewish artists and writers in the early
20th century Notable authors included Franz Kafka,
Max Brod, Rainer Maria Rilke and Franz Werfel. Many
of these writers were German speakers of Jewish
background who were strongly assimilated into mainstream
culture and did not participate in Jewish religious
life.
Prague was one of the centres of Jewish culture
This blossoming of Jewish creativity came to a
sudden end in the 1930s when German troops marched
into Prague and made the city the capital of the
Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Almost
all of the Jewish inhabitants of this region were
transported into the Theresienstadt concentration
camp (today’s Czech town of Terezin) and later
to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Of roughly
82,000 Jews that were deported from the Protectorate,
only about 11,200 survived.
Golems for sale
All over Europe, the Nazis destroyed most Jewish
institutions and synagogues, but Hitler decided
to leave Prague’s Jewish Quarter intact as
a “museum to an extinct race”. This
is the reason why Prague’s six synagogues
and the Jewish cemetery are still in existence today.
Ornamented fence of the Jewish Cemetery
When survivors returned after the war, they often
encountered a hostile environment and difficulties
in reclaiming their property. As a result many Czech
Jews immigrated to Israel and overseas in the post-year
wars. Today the Jewish population in the Czech Republic
is small, and the Jewish community in Prague only
has about 1600 members.
Inside the heart of Prague's Jewish Quarter
Walking west from the 16th century Pinkas Synagogue,
which holds a memorial to the martyrs of the Holocaust,
we walked west on Maiselova Street towards the Vltava
River where we stopped at the Rudolfinum, a classical
building that opened in 1884 and today houses the
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Richard explained
that the building has phenomenal acoustics and is
also home to a gallery.
The Rudolfinum, a magnificent concert hall
Surrounding it is the Museum of Fine Arts, and
a department of Charles University, one of Europe’s
oldest universities. A few steps away we stopped
at the tall walls of the Jewish Cemetery where there
is a small square window that allows you a little
peak into the cemetery. Richard indicated that the
entire cemetery had to be enclosed by walls and
there are very few places where you can catch a
glimpse of the cemetery. This little peephole is
one of them.
The peephole into the Jewish Cemetery
The Jewish Cemetery of Prague was founded in 1478
and held burials until 1787. In some cases people
had to be buried on top of one another, up to twelve
layers deep. In excess of 100,000 people are estimated
to have been buried here. More than 12,000 gravestones
can still be seen; most of them are difficult to
read and they are densely packed on the small plot
of land.
Gravestones in Prague's Jewish Cemetery
After a walk around the cemetery’s perimeter
walls we arrived at the Klausen Synagogue which
was completed in 1694. This High Baroque structure
today houses Hebrew prints and manuscripts and an
exhibition of Jewish traditions and customs. The
building right next to it is the Ceremonial Hall
of the Jewish Burial Society, built in 1906. Richard
explained that in the Jewish religion, burials have
to take place no later than one day after death.
Naturally, the people handling the burials had to
be located very close to the cemeteries. A wrought-iron
fence between the two buildings allowed for another
peek into the Jewish Cemetery.
The Klausen Synagogue in Prague's Jewish Quarter
My guide explained that for about $15 you gain
access to the Jewish Museum which includes admission
to five difference Jewish locations. Souvenir shops
line the street beside the cemetery, many of them
selling figures of the legendary Golem. Towards
the end of this street is the Old-New Synagogue,
with its construction date of 1270 the oldest synagogue
in all of Europe. This Gothic building has often
granted refuge to Jews over the centuries and is
still the religious centre for Prague’s Jewish
community. Rabbi Löw’s chair is an authentic
relic used by the 16th century scholar.
The Old-New Synagogue, Europe's oldest synagogue
Religious services have been held every Friday
and Saturday at the Old-New Synagogue for more than
700 years. Just south of the Old-New Synagogue is
the Jewish Town Hall, built between 1570 and 1577
by Jewish mayor Mordecai Maisel. This meeting hall
is still the location of dinners, get-togethers
and festivals. Richard pointed out the clock faces
on the building: the upper clock face in the tower
uses Roman numerals, while the lower clock face
on the building’s façade uses Hebrew
numerals. The hands of this clock also move in an
anti-clockwise direction as Hebrew is read from
right to left.
The Jewish Town Hall with its Roman and Hebrew clockfaces
In addition to these historic Jewish buildings
I was amazed by the outstanding Art Nouveau architecture.
Virtually all the buildings feature extensive Art
Nouveau decorations and some also have Cubist details.
Richard explained that the Jewish Quarter has become
Prague’s most desirable neighbourhood because
of its central location and spacious apartments.
Outstanding Art Nouveau architecture in Prague's
Jewish Quarter
The High Synagogue is just a few steps south of
the Old-New Synagogue and after a short walk we
reached one more Jewish prayer house: the Spanish
Synagogue was built in the location of the Old School,
Prague’s first synagogue, and today is a Reform
synagogue. It was built in 1868 in the Moorish Revival
Style and is the most elaborate of Prague’s
synagogue buildings. Intricate stucco details on
the walls are reminiscent of the Alhambra in Spain.
A poster outside illustrated the richly decorated
interior of the Spanish Synagogue, referring to
it as “the most beautiful synagogue in Europe”.
Prague's Spanish Synagogue
Immediately next to the Spanish Synagogue is a
mysterious statue of Franz Kafka: an oversize male
metal figure in a black suit without a head that
has a smaller man dressed in a suit sitting on its
shoulder. The diminutive man on top is Franz Kafka.
This bronze sculpture was created by Czech sculptor
Jaroslav Rona and was unveiled in 2003.
The mysterious Franz Kafka sculpture
After this extensive introduction to Jewish history
in Prague it was early afternoon and it was definitely
time to have lunch. Richard and I headed into another
Jewish institution in Prague’s Jewish Quarter,
the King Solomon Restaurant on Siroka Street, to
explore real kosher food. By this time my stomach
was growling and I was really looking forward to
exploring Prague’s Jewish delicacies.
Interesting architectural details in Prague's Jewish
Quarter