Josefov
(Redirected from
Josefov (Prague)
)Josefov (also Jewish Quarter;
Prague's Jewish community, a yellow Magen David (Star of David
) on a red field.
History
Jews are believed to have settled in Prague as early as the 10th century. The first
Mordecai Maisel
, became the Minister of Finance and a very wealthy man. His money helped develop the ghetto.
In 1850, the quarter was renamed "Josefstadt" (Joseph's City) after
Toleration Edict
in 1781. Two years before Jews were allowed to settle outside of the city, so the share of the Jewish population in Josefov decreased, while only Orthodox and poor Jews remained living there.
Most of the quarter was demolished between 1893 and 1913 as part of an initiative to model the city on Paris. What was left were only six synagogues, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall (now all part of the Jewish Museum in Prague and described below).
Currently Josefov is overbuilt with buildings from the beginning of the 20th century, so it is difficult to appreciate exactly what the old quarter was like when it was reputed to have over 18,000 inhabitants. Medieval Josefov is depicted in the 1920 film expressionist nature of the film.
Historical sites
- Franz Kafka's birthplace.
- High Synagogue (Vysoká synagoga): 16th-century synagogue.
- Jewish Town Hall (Židovská radnice): 18th-century rococo town hall.
- Klausen Synagogue (Klausová synagoga): 16th-century baroque synagogue.
- Maisel Synagogue (Maiselova synagoga): 16th-century synagogue destroyed by fire, now used as a museum.
- Pinkas Synagogue (Pinkasova synagoga): 16th-century synagogue, now a memorial to Holocaust victims.
- Spanish Synagogue (Španělská synagoga): 19th-century synagogue with Moorish interior.
- Old Jewish Cemetery (Starý židovský hřbitov): 15th- to 18th-century cemetery. Europe's oldest surviving Jewish cemetery.
- Old New Synagogue (Staronová synagoga): 13th-century Gothic synagogue.
- neo-renaissancehall.
Further reading
- Všetečka, Jiří; Kuděla, Jiří (1993). The fate of Jewish Prague. Grafoprint-Neubert. ISBN 80-901208-5-7
- Prague City Tourism (2017). Prague: Jewish. Prague City Tourism.
Gallery
-
Jewish Cemetery and surrounding buildings
-
The cemetery itself
-
The surrounding buildings
-
A few steps apart
-
A monument of a pregnant woman made of mirrors
See also
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Josefov (Prague).