Prague Blog #9 – Visiting the Jewish Quarter

The "Old-New" Synagogue  -
Completed in 1270 (now the oldest since
the oldest one (old-old?) isn't around.  Read
about the Golem in the attic.

After classes today we had a tour of the Jewish Quarter of the city.  It was fascinating to get a brief overview of the 1,000+ year history of the Jews here in Prague.  I encourage you to Google it since my info below are based on what I remember from the tour when I might not have been able to hear everything correctly.  (We wore things called “whispers” that are supposed to let the tour guide talk in a normal voice and we should be able to pick them up in our earbuds.  Unfortunately, I have yet to get one that works…I think the whispers rebel near me.)

Moses Statue - recast from original mold
after WWII (first one was melted during Nazi
occupation of Prague.)

Among the interesting things we heard was that even in a Feudal society when the Jews couldn’t own land, they were able to get permission to builds schools because royalty would borrow money from them and make deals to get the debts written off.  (Clever!) 

Cute window near Moses statue

The cemetery had a huge number of people buried there because, in order to not disturb graves like some other European cities that make room for new graves, they added dirt on top of the old graves and built the cemetery up.  Apparently there are approximately 20,000 people buried in the small cemetery.  The gravestones are numerous and tightly packed together.  The oldest ones I saw were from 1439 (a modern day marker had the date) and were really eroded from the elements through the centuries. 

The synagogue near the cemetery serves as a Holocaust museum – walls serving as a memorial with a list the names of the 77,000+ Jews and the last date they were known to be alive before being taken off to concentration camps.  Very poignant.

Street near Jewish Quarter

There were signs to not take photos inside the synagogue and it cost a fee to take pictures in the cemetery (which I didn’t have easy access to at the time) but Rick Steves has a small portion of the Jewish Quarter on his Prague video:

http://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/prague-and-the-czech-republic

Restaurant chandelier in mirror

On a happier note, I had an early dinner tonight at the exact restaurant at the 22-23 minute mark. Schnitzel and a super yummy beef broth (so good!) along with a Strawberry crushed ice drink.  Yum!