Jubilee Synagogue ( cs, Jubilejní synagoga), also known as the Jerusalem Synagogue ( cs, Jeruzalémská synagoga) for its location on Jerusalem Street, is an active synagogue in

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. It was built in 1906, designed by

Wilhelm Stiassny Wilhelm Stiassny (15 October 1842, Pressburg (Bratislava) 11 July 1910, Bad Ischl) was a Jewish Austrian architect. Personal life From 1857 to 1861, he studied at the Polytechnic in Vienna and afterwards studied architecture at the Academy of Fin ...

and named in honor of the silver Jubilee of Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the Grand title of the Emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg m ...

. Although originally built as a "reform" synagogue (with an organ and a choir), it is nowadays used by the more traditional ("modern orthodox") members of the Prague Jewish community, aligning itself officially with orthodox Judaism. Still, compared to the famous other active synagogue of Prague, the Old-New Synagogue, the Jubilee Synagogue is far less stringent in many ways.

Design and history

The synagogue is designed in

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

form with

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

decoration, especially in the interior. It was lately renovated and still serves religious purposes. Since Czechoslovakia became independent in 1918, it has been called the ''Jerusalem Synagogue'' as the name ''Jubilee Synagogue'' referred to the anniversary of the rule of

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

in the defeated Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The synagogue preserves inscribed plaques removed from the former Zigeuner Synagogue, demolished by the urban renewal campaign that was the cause of the building of the Jubilee synagogue. The inscription over the entrance reads "זה השער ליי צדיקים יבאו בו" ("This is the gate to which the righteous will come"). The facade and form of the synagogue are a hybridized blend of Moorish Revival and

, with

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; Spanish: "arco de herradura"), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is an emblematic arch of Islamic architecture, especially Moorish architecture. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form. His ...

es on the facade and on the interior columns supporting the women's galleries in a three-bay building. The

Mudéjar Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...

red-and-white coursing of the stone facade is particularly striking. Inside, the Moorish elements are overlaid with brilliantly painted Art Nouveau patterning. After a century of being open to the public as a house of worship, except for the period of Nazi German occupation when it was used to store

confiscated Confiscation (from the Latin ''confiscatio'' "to consign to the ''fiscus'', i.e. transfer to the treasury") is a legal form of seizure by a government or other public authority. The word is also used, popularly, of spoliation under legal forms, o ...

Jewish property, on 1 April 2008 the Jubilee Synagogue began opening its doors on a regular basis to tourists and aficionados of historic architecture.The Jerusalem Synagogue Reopen to Public (Portal of Prague)
Praha.eu.

References

{{Authority control Synagogues completed in 1906 Synagogues in Prague Moorish Revival synagogues Art Nouveau synagogues Art Nouveau architecture in Prague Moorish Revival architecture in the Czech Republic New Town, Prague 1906 establishments in Austria-Hungary

Design and history

See also

References