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main entry to the neo-Gothic maisel synagogue in prague

Maisel Synagogue

Jewish Prague – Maisel Synagogue The history of Maisel Synagogue breaks down into 3 periods. 1) Initial 1590 construction in late-Rennaissance style, 2) The 1690s Baroque reconstruction, 3) The 1890s neo-Gothic reconstruction. Maisel Synagogue is probably 4th amongst the synagogues in popularity in the Josefov District but I’ve always had one big reason to visit … Read More

book cover of the franci's war memoir

Book Review – Franci’s War

Book Review – Franci’s War Ten years ago I first wrote about Stolpersteine in Prague. Four years ago I met Gunter Demnig the man who ran the project and so I wrote about them again. Two years ago a friend published a book about the 460 Stolpersteine that were in Prague at the time so … Read More

mordecai maisel ohel in prague old jewish cemetery

Mordecai Maisel

Famous Czechs – Mordecai Maisel Mordecai, Mordechaj or Mordechai, Maisel, Meisel or Meysel. There have been several interpretations of his name so I’m going to stick with Mordecai Maisel (fun fact: in Yiddish, Maisel means mouse). Let’s put ourselves in the last half of the 16th Century. Emperors Maximilian and Rudolf II have been kind … Read More

street sign in prague saying jeruzalemska in white text on a red background

Prague Streets – Jeruzalemska

Prague Streets – Jeruzalemska Like many street names in Prague we have to go way back in time to make sense of them. In our case that means going back to the 14th Century to get a clue as to where Jeruzalemska got it’s name because it’s NOT directly named after the city. It was … Read More

book cover with torah scrolls on shelves entitled out of the midst of the fire

Out of the Midst of the Fire

Book Review – Out of the Midst of the Fire On my Journey of a Torah Scroll post you’ll have read about my chance encounter with Rabbi David Maxa in Prague where he mentioned an interesting story of how a Torah Scroll taken by the Nazis in World War Two and sold by the Communist … Read More

prague spanish synagogue view across the balcony level

Spanish Synagogue

Spanish Synagogue There was a Jewish community recorded as resident in what is now the Lesser Town in the mid-12th Century but following a devastating fire in that area in 1142 it’s thought that this community relocated to what would become the Old Town and they built a synagogue where the Spanish Synagogue stands today. … Read More

the mantle material for the memorial scrolls trust scroll 1052 now at the ec chajim synagogue in prague

Journey of a Torah Scroll

Journey of a Torah Scroll I was at an event at the British Embassy in November 2021 when I was introduced to a Rabbi called David Maxa and he asked me if I knew about the return of a Czech Torah Scroll. It would be a few more weeks before I understood what was a … Read More

a street sign for paris street in prague old town

Paris Street Rebuilding the Prague Jewish Quarter

Paris Street – Rebuilding The Prague Jewish Quarter Before you start this post be sure to read Why the Prague Jewish Ghetto Was Destroyed. That post explained the reasons for the demolition. This post starts in 1887 with the plan for the rebuilding of the Prague Jewish Quarter into what you see today. Of all … Read More

franz kafka monument in prague with background tree, blue sky and part of the facade of the spanish synagogue

Franz Kafka Monument

Franz Kafka Monument I’ve written about the sculptor Jaroslav Rona and I’ve written about Franz Kafka so what about a post that links them. People might be confused because there will be references to two different Franz Kafka monuments in Prague. If you are looking for the huge shining Franz Kafka head which rotates then … Read More

memorial to the prague jewish garden cemetery shaped like black gravestones

Prague Jewish Garden

Prague Jewish Garden Not so fast, this is not some horticultural post about what grows in a Jewish garden. This relates to a cemetery close to Wenceslas Square that pre-dates the current Old Jewish Cemetery by 200 years and is recognised as the oldest Jewish burial ground in the country. In the mid-13th Century a … Read More