Jewish Quarter and Jewish Museum Prague

Private tour with a guide through Prague 

Jewish Quarter and Jewish Muzeum Prague. It is a part of Prague 1. Jewish Quarter together with the museum is located close to Old Town Square. Generally, the quarter is surrounded by the Old Town. The official name is also Josefov, after the son of Marie Terezie – Josef II. Josef justified Jewish with others. The private guide will give you a tour through the Jewish Quarter. Part of the tour is also the entrance to the Jewish museum, which is the second biggest museum in the world.

From the establishment to the devastation

The establishment takes us back to 1096 when the quarter was found. In the 14th century, during the Charles IV. rule, were the Jews allowed starting to use their symbol – David’s yellow star in the red field.

The reduction of residents starts to be seen during the Prague pogrom at Easter in the 14., 15., and 16th centuries. And what does it mean? Pogrom during the Easters in Prague was an organized action by Prague Christians against the Jews. Over 3.000 Jews was killed, including the kids or woman. Many of them were banished out of the country.

The count of the residents in the Jewish Quarter was changing a lot through the years. Rudolf II. together with a Jew Mordechaj Maisel, build many buildings and the quarter developed a lot during the time of this rule. Maisel financed a lot of the buildings. Later he became “a court Jew” of the king. Some structures that were built thanks to Maisel are, for example, Jewish City Hall and Maisels or High Synagogue.

We all know what was happening to Jews during the 2WW. The Jewish Quarter Josefov in Prague became empty and lonely. It was used as a storage of things that were confiscated to Jewish owners. Most of them didn´t come back from the concentration camps, so their belongings stayed here. Nowadays, the Jewish Museum in Prague is the second biggest in the world.

Sights – Jewish Quarter, Josefov

Not much from the original Quarter was preserved until these days. Even the original border of the quarter was reducted during the 2WW. The buildings or sights that were not destroyed are the Jewish Cemetery, City Hall and six synagogues.

Old New Synagogue, Josefov

The Old New synagogue is still used today for religious ceremonials, and it is one of the oldest ones in Europe. The other name for this synagogue can be also a New or a Big School. Around the place where the synagogue stands used to be the centre of the ghetto.

The architectural style is Gothic and it was built in 1270.

Pinkas Synagogue

This Pinkas Synagogue also works as a memorial for 80.000 Jews that passed during the war. There used to be a private chapel of the Horovica family. The chapel was a part of their house, and later the house was renovated as a family synagogue.

The original architectural style is Gothic, but because of the renovation, some Renaissance elements.

Other Synagogues

In Josefov is located six synagogues, and there are still four remaining. Klausova – in Barocque style and also the biggest one. Maisel – used to be a private synagogue of a patron Maisel. The newest one the Spain – from the 19th century in Moresque style, which makes the building very exotic. The High synagogue is the last one and it is a part of the City Hall. It used to be a private chapel of consuls. You will recognize it by its three big windows.

The guide will surely mention an Old Jewish cemetery, where the Jews started to be buried in 1439. This year was, at least, found on the oldest gravestone. Even some influential people rest here, including Maisel. After a few years, the capacity of the cemetery was full. Jews put some loam on the graves below and created a new space like that. The count of the layers of graves above each other could be about twelve. By the halacha law (traditions of Jews), the dead body can not be moved. This is the reason why are so many gravestones so close to each other. They let the dead body below the new layer and just moved the stone.

In case you are interested in Jewish Quarter Josefov in Prague, don´t hesitate to contact us. The other part of the tour continues in the Jewish Museum. Other tours with a private guide find in the Walking Tours Prague category.