The Jewish Quarter

We start early this morning to enjoy the good weather to return to the Charles Bridge before the tourists. We took the direction of the Jewish Quarter Josefov. You should know that the Jewish city of Prague is as old as the city itself. Since the Middle Ages, Jewish traders settled there at the foot of the castle until the twelfth century. At the time, the Jews had no right to own land or practicing a craft business, so they traded, sold mostly jewelry, rare fabrics, salt, weapons, and spices. In Hebrew literature from the Middle Ages, Slavic countries, particularly the Czech lands, were called Eretz Kanaan (Canaan). At the end of the XI century, the first pogroms broke out under the First Crusade’s influence. He followed bans, which led to segregation. The Jews, therefore, settled on the outskirts of the old town. The Old-New Synagogue will be high in the twelfth century; it will remain until today the real community center of the spiritual ghetto separated by a wall surrounding the Christian neighborhood. In the XIII century, the Jews of Prague held the same privileges as the Lombard and German merchants (and thanks to the Czech King better disposed towards the Jews: Premysl Ottokar II (1253-1278)). However, there was numerous religious persecution in 1389, leading to a terrible pogrom perpetrated by the Prague population was 3,000 dead. In the sixteenth century, it was under the Habsburg that the efforts of people to drive the Jews of the city culminated. Much of the community left Prague, but some remained their situation remained precarious throughout this century. Thanks to King Rudolph II (1576-1611), the Jews could recover their rights. This period was called the golden age of the Jewish community in Bohemia. This ruler’s banker was the famous Mordechai Maisel, a court Jew who enjoyed a fortune and considerable political influence. New synagogues arose: High Synagogue, Maisel Synagogue) and the cemetery is growing. The Jewish community was distinguished by his participation in the seventeenth to the strength of the seat against the Swedens, help much appreciated by Ferdinand III granted them in thanks the possibility of raising the tower of their hotel de Ville. Another Jewish court Jacob Bashevi largely financed the imperial army during the Thirty Years War. In recognition, he was the first Jew to be knighted in 1622. In the early eighteenth century, the Jews of Prague were 11 500 inhabitants, almost equivalent to Amsterdam. In the eighteenth century, the Jewish religion is put on par with the other, which results in the requirement to wear distinctive signs. Yet the authority seeks to limit the Jewish population’s growth by the 1726 law and stipulates that only the eldest son of each Jewish family could marry … this law will last until 1848 !!!!! Empress Marie Therese thought a rumor that the Jews have betrayed the Habsburgs during Prague’s Prussian occupation and decided to expel them for 4 years. They live in the Bohemian countryside. Thanks to local governments and foreign ambassadors, the expulsion order was abolished. The ghetto opened then, but living conditions deteriorated, and it became unhealthy habitations. The Jewish city was integrated into the rest of the city in 1861 and was renamed Josefov in honor of Joseph II, who reformed the toughest laws. In the late nineteenth century, the idea arose to completely transform this district by creating a modern area (well, it was imposed) crossed by the wide gap in the Pariska street. The area will become Art Nouveau, but the heart of the ghetto remains intact. During World War II action in this area, the Nazis strictly applied the Nuremberg racial laws in 1935 with the restrictions and ban anti-Jewish (labeled ID, travel ban, call, stay in the Josefov area). About 40 000 Jews left for the Terezin camp did not return. In 1948, communism took over and did not make life easier for Jews. And it will be that only since 1989 that the community has fully regained its rights, but the wounds are not yet healed. We start with the Jewish cemetery and numerous tombs. According to tradition, Jews do not flower the graves of their dead. However, they will lay a stone (to mark their passage and because in the past in the desert, these stone clusters protected the graves scavengers). We go on, and I admit that the place’s calm is enchanting, almost magical … . L’histoire is actually present. Then we go to the Pinkas synagogue that was turned into a memorial to Holocaust victims from Bohemia, and the walls are covered with 77 297 names. At the time of the Six-Day War in 1967, the communist government had to launder all that will be restored at the end of the century. On the 1st floor, there is a small museum displaying hundreds of drawings made by children in Terezin. The drawings depict life in the camp, hopes … It’s really a memorable moment during our tour of the Josefov district. We go to the Klaus Synagogue, which is the largest. It was built in the late seventeenth century in baroque style, on the old school site or professed Rabbi Loew. The synagogue was turned into a museum about traditions and life in the ghetto through history and Jewish religious customs. In this place, the grim and terrible project of a museum of extinct breeds has been mentioned by the German authorities following the final application …. We’re going to the Old-New Synagogue. The latter was built in 1270 and is the oldest preserved synagogue in Europe.One legend says that it would have been preserved from the many fires by the wings of angels. According to another legend, the attic of the monument would have used to hide the Golem, a clay character created by Rabbi Loew, who has given life to this creature by placing it under his tongue a magical parchment inscribed Shem (the name of God). To enter the synagogue, men should put on a kipa … We arrange to be on the Old City site to be in front of the Astronomical Clock at 12:00 hour because the 12 apostles come out from the clock. The latter was carried out in 1410 by Nicolas of Kadan, King watchmaker and astronomer John Sindel, master of Prague University. Its mechanism was perfected XVI by master watchmaker Hanus of Ruze. Every hour this amazing clock composed of 12 dials and moving statues set in motion the 12 apostles. We stop eating on the go sausages, and a mixture of cabbage, bacon, and potatoes (delicious but very filling !!!) We decided to climb the tower of the astronomical clock and enjoy the square view and visit the town hall (which was destroyed in particular during the Second World War), and it’s underground, accessible only on a guided tour. You should know that the underground can be used even in case of attack if such a person must be evacuated. The town hall was erected in the XV century; it keeps its original south façade, the one with the clock. Before it, on the ground, there is 27 cross recall the 27 leaders of the revolt against the Habsburg beheaded in 1621 because held responsible for the defenestration at the castle in 1618 of two Catholic nobles and their secretary. They are considered martyrs because they were working to save the kingdom of Bohemia. Direction Our Lady of Thy we visit after a well-deserved break hot chocolate … This is a superb Gothic building from the XIVcentury and has retained its consistency over time. Its tall spires of 80 meters and dating back two centuries, emerge from behind the Renaissance mansions. The golden chalice represented on the gable reminds us that this church was the center of the Hussite movement in Prague in 1458. The interior is majestic; I didn’t have the right to take pictures. On each pillar, there is a small baroque altar covered with gold. There is also the tombstone of Techo Brahe, carved in pink marble. Then we will discover the Ungelt square with its famous store Biotanica (as body products made in the Czech Republic). This is one of the oldest courses in Prague, lined with old houses. Ungelt (meaning penniless in Yiddish) was a cottage for the destitute and a storage place for traveling merchants. The renovation of the Ungelt court has made a real movie set cape and sword. We stop just because we find it beautiful to St Nicolas church and discover its huge crystal chandelier of Bohemian 1.5 tonnes Byzantine style inspired by the crown of the tsars and recalling the orthodox period of the building. This is one of the most beautiful baroque churches in Europe. His monumental Baroque facade of the eighteenth century was made by one of the Dientzenhofer Czech Baroque masters. Ironically: since 1920, the Hussite Protestant worship is always celebrated, in what was nevertheless a center of the Counter-Reformation !!! Then we return to the Spanish Synagogue and take its name from the Spanish Jewish community living in the ghetto at the Inquisition time. This was the first synagogue to host a music service (with organ). It recalls the Andalusian Arab buildings. It houses an interesting collection on the Jewish community’s history in Bohemia and Moravia from the eighteenth century until the Second World War. Just outside of the synagogue, there is a statue of Kafka, a little strange. The latter was built in 2003 by Jaroslav Rona in homage to Franz Kafka, an evocation of his split personality. He had asked his friend Max Brod to burn all his manuscripts … Then towards the Maisel Synagogue, which was built in the XVI century in Renaissance style by Rabbi Marc Mordechai Maisel, the authorization of Emperor Rudolf II. On the façade appear the tables of the law, the five books of Moses. History records that Maisel’s death, the king was to be put half his fortune to soften some laws concerning the Jews in Prague. The body barely cooled, the great royal silversmiths came, therefore recover the sum, but it was considered so low that dragged the whole community to justice. The trial was spread out over nearly two centuries. Under the Nazis, the synagogue was to serve as a framework for a “museum of an extinct race.” Today, the synagogue is a museum that traces the life of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia from their first settlements in X until early emancipation end XVIII. We continue to the church of Santa Anna, which is closed but just worth a visit … We’re going on Wenceslas Square, a mini field Elysées (with way too crowded for my taste …), we make several stops in passages more or less secret, including the statue of Wenceslas upside (a horse and rider backward) … a Franciscan garden is hidden… We leave and stop diner before returning after a nearly 25 km walk…