Reservation centre U Starého hřbitova 3a 110 00 Prag 1	tel. + 420 - 2 - 223 17 191 fax: + 420 - 2 - 223 17 181
E-mail: office@jewishmuseum.cz	Official Site: www.jewishmuseum.cz

The Maisel Synagogue was built in 1590 - 1592 by the Mayor of the Jewish Town, Mordechai Maisel, who funded the extensive Renaissance reconstruction of the ghetto. The builders of this synagogue were Josef Wahl and Juda Goldsmied de Herz. The original building was seriously damaged by fire in 1689 and was then renovated in the Baroque style. In the end, it was considerably rebuilt to a pseudo-Gothic design by Prof. A Grott in 1893-1905. All that remained intact of the

original Renaissance layout was the ground plan of the tripartite central hall with the upper-story women's section. The Maisel Synagogue is currently used by the Jewish Museum as an exhibition venue and depository.

The Spanish Synagogue was built in 1868 on the site of the oldest Prague Jewish house of prayer ("the Old Shul"). It was designed in a Moorish style by Vojtěch Ignátz Ullmann. The synagogue has a regular square plan with a large dome surmounting the central space. On three sides there are galleries on metal structures, which fully open onto the nave. The remarkable interior decoration features a low stucco arabesque of stylized Islamic motifs which are also applied to the walls, doors

and gallery balustrades. The interior, together with the stained glass windows, were designed by architects A. Baum and B. Munzberg and completed in 1893. František Škroup, the composer of the Czech national anthem, served as organist here in 1836-45. By reopening the Spanish Synagogue - closed for over 20 years - on the 130th anniversary of its establishment, the Jewish Museum in Prague has completed one of its most ambitious projects to date.

The present building of the Pinkas Synagogue is the work of the Horowitz family. In 1535 Aaron Meshullam Horowitz had it built between his house "U Erbů" and the site of the Old Jewish Cemetery. After the Second World War, the synagogue was turned into a Memorial to the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia murdered by the Nazis. On its walls are inscribed the names of the Jewish victims, their personal data, and the names of the communities to which they belonged. In 1968, however, the Memorial had to be closed because ground water had penetrated the building's foundations, thus endangering the structure. During work on the underground waterproofing of the building, a discovery was made of vaulted spaces with an ancient well and ritual bath. The Communist regime deliberately held up renovation work and the inscriptions were removed. Not

until 1990 was it possible to complete the building alterations. Finally, in 1992-1994, the 80,000 names of the Jewish victims of Bohemia and Moravia were rewritten on its walls.

The Old Jewish Cemetery was established in the first half of the 15th century. Along with the Old-New Synagogue, it is one of the most important historic sites in Prague's Jewish Town. The oldest tombstone, which marks the grave of the poet and scholar Avigdor Karo, dates from the year 1439. Burials took place in the cemetery until 1787. Today it contains some 12,000 tombstones, al though the number of persons buried here is much greater. The cemetery was enlarged a

number of times in the past. In spite of this the area did not suffice and earth was brought in to add further layers. It is assumed that the cemetery contains several burial layers placed on top of each other. The picturesque groups of tombstones from various periods emerged through the raising of older stones to the upper layers. The most prominent person buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery is without a doubt the great religious scholar and teacher Judah Loew ben Bezalel, known as Rabbi Loew (d. 1609), who is associated with the legend of the Golem. Among the many other prominent persons buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery are: the Mayor of the Jewish Town Mordechai Maisel (d. 1601), the Renaissance scholar, historian, mathematician and astronomer David Gans (d. 1613), scholar and historian Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (d. 1655), and rabbi and collector of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books David Oppenheim (d. 1736).

The Klausen Synagogue is located by the entrance to the Old Jewish Cemetery. It takes its name from the German word "Klaus" meaning "small building", which is derived from the Latin "claustrum". "Klausen" (plural of "Klaus") was the name of the originally three smaller buildings, which Moredehai Maisel, Head of the Prague Jewish Community, had erected in honor of a visit from Emperor Maximilian II to the Prague ghetto in 1573. After the destruction of the original Klausen by the fire of 1689, work began on the present Klausen Synagogue

building which was completed in 1604. Further reconstruction of the Klausen Synagogue took place in the 1880s. The Klausen Synagogue held an important place in the history of Prague´s Jewish Town. It was the largest synagogue in the ghetto and the seat of Prague´s Burial Society.

The building housing the former Ceremonial Hall and mortuary of the Old Jewish Cemetery was built in a pseudo-Romanesque style in 1911-12 to a design by architect J. Gerstl. As part of the Jewish Museum, the Ceremonial Hall of the Prague Burial Society Hevrah Kaddishah (founded in 1564) later became an exhibition venue.