Josefov (also Jewish Quarter; german: Josefstadt) is a town quarter and the smallest
cadastral
A cadastre or cadaster is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref>
Often it is represented graphically in a cad ...
area of
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, formerly the
Jewish ghetto
In the Jewish diaspora, a Jewish quarter (also known as jewry, ''juiverie'', ''Judengasse'', Jewynstreet, Jewtown, or proto-ghetto) is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were ...
of the town. It is surrounded by the
Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
. The quarter is often represented by the flag of
Prague's Jewish community, a yellow Magen David (
Star of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
) on a red field.
History
Jews are believed to have settled in Prague as early as the 10th century. The first
pogrom
A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
was in 1096 (the first crusade) and eventually they were concentrated within a walled
Ghetto
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
. In 1262,
Přemysl Otakar II
Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...
issued a ''Statuta Judaeorum'' which granted the community a degree of self-administration. In 1389, one of the worst
pogrom
A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
s saw some 1,500 massacred at
Easter Sunday
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
. The
ghetto
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
was most prosperous towards the end of the 16th century when the Jewish Mayor,
Mordecai Maisel Mordecai Marcus Meisel ( cs, Miška Marek Majzel; 1528, Prague – 13 March 1601, Prague) was a philanthropist and communal leader in Prague.
Biography
Born to the Meisel family. In 1542 and 1561 his family, with the other Jewish inhabitants, w ...
, 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
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...
who emancipated Jews with the
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
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. 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
The Jewish Museum in Prague (Czech: Židovské muzeum v Praze) is a museum of Jewish heritage in the Czech Republic and one of the most visited museums in Prague. Its collection of Judaica is one of the largest in the world, about 40,000 objects ...
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 ''
The Golem'', composed of cramped, angular, squinted buildings, but this impression is used purely to convey the
expressionist
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
nature of the film.
Historical sites
*
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...
's birthplace.
*
High Synagogue (Vysoká synagoga): 16th-century synagogue.
*
Jewish Town Hall (Židovská radnice): 18th-century
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
town hall.
*
Klausen Synagogue
The Klausen Synagogue (, ''kloyz shul'') is nowadays the largest synagogue in the former Prague Jewish ghetto and the sole example of an early Baroque synagogue in the ghetto. Today the synagogue is administered by the Jewish Museum in Prague.
...
(Klausová synagoga): 16th-century
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
synagogue.
*
Maisel Synagogue
Maisel Synagogue ( cs, Maiselova synagoga) is one of the historical monuments of the former Prague Jewish quarter. It was built at the end of the 16th century which is considered to be the golden age of the ghetto. Since then its appearance has c ...
(Maiselova synagoga): 16th-century synagogue destroyed by fire, now used as a museum.
*
Pinkas Synagogue
The Pinkas Synagogue ( cs, Pinkasova synagoga) is the second oldest surviving synagogue in Prague. Its origins are connected with the Horowitz family, a renowned Jewish family in Prague. Today, the synagogue is administered by the Jewish Museum in ...
(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
The Old New Synagogue ( cs, Staronová synagoga; german: link=no, Altneu-Synagoge), also called the Altneuschul, situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe's oldest active synagogue. It is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave d ...
(Staronová synagoga): 13th-century
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
synagogue.
*
Ceremonial Hall of the Prague Jewish Burial Society
The Ceremonial hall of the Prague Jewish Burial Society was built for the last service to the deceased members of the Prague Jewish Community. It is used as an exhibition space administered by the Jewish Museum in Prague. The building is an excell ...
(Obřadní síň): 20th-century
neo-renaissance
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
hall.
Further reading
* Všetečka, Jiří; Kuděla, Jiří (1993). ''The fate of Jewish Prague''. Grafoprint-Neubert.
* Prague City Tourism (2017)
''Prague: Jewish'' Prague City Tourism.
Gallery
Image:Jusefov2045.JPG, Jewish Cemetery and surrounding buildings
Image:Jusefov41.JPG, The cemetery itself
Image:Jusefov39.JPG, The surrounding buildings
Image:Jusefov38.JPG, A few steps apart
File:Ciezarnakobietajosefov.jpg, A monument of a pregnant woman made of mirrors
See also
*
History of the Jews in Prague
The history of the Jews in Prague (capital of today's Czech Republic) is one of Central Europe's oldest and most well-known. Prague boasts one of Europe's oldest recorded Jewish communities (Hebrew: "Kehilla"), first mentioned by a Mizrahi-Jewish ...
References
External links
Jewish Museum in Prague
{{Authority control
Districts of Prague
Historic Jewish communities
Jewish communities
Jewish Czech history
Jewish ghettos in Europe
Tourist attractions in Prague