Josefov (also Jewish Quarter; ) is a town quarter and the smallest

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...

area of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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, formerly the Jewish ghetto of the town. It is surrounded by the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

. The quarter is often represented by the flag of Prague's Jewish community, a yellow Magen David (

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

) on a red field.

History

Jews are believed to have settled in Prague as early as the 10th century. The first

pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...

was in 1096 (the first crusade) and eventually they were concentrated within a walled Ghetto. In 1262, Přemysl Otakar II issued a ''Statuta Judaeorum'' which granted the community a degree of self-administration. The ghetto was most prosperous towards the end of the 16th century when the Jewish Mayor, Mordecai Maisel, became the Minister of Finance and a very wealthy man. His money helped develop the ghetto. In 1850, the quarter was renamed "Josefstadt" (Joseph's City) after

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I, ...

who emancipated Jews with the Edict of Tolerance in 1782. Two years before Jews were allowed to settle outside of the city, so the share of the Jewish population in Josefov decreased, while only Orthodox and poor Jews remained living there. Most of the quarter was demolished between 1893 and 1913 as part of an initiative to model the city on

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. What was left were only six synagogues, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall (now all part of the Jewish Museum in Prague and described below).Currently Josefov is overbuilt with buildings from the beginning of the 20th century, so it is difficult to appreciate exactly what the old quarter was like when it was reputed to have over 18,000 inhabitants. Medieval Josefov is depicted in the 1920 film '' The Golem'', composed of cramped, angular, squinted buildings, but this impression is used purely to convey the expressionist nature of the film.

Demographics

Historical sites

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

's birthplace. * High Synagogue (Vysoká synagoga): 16th-century synagogue. * Jewish Town Hall (Židovská radnice): 18th-century

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

town hall. * Klausen Synagogue (Klausová synagoga): 16th-century

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

synagogue. * Maisel Synagogue (Maiselova synagoga): 16th-century synagogue destroyed by fire, now used as a museum. * Pinkas Synagogue (Pinkasova synagoga): 16th-century synagogue, now a memorial to Holocaust victims. * Spanish Synagogue (Španělská synagoga): 19th-century synagogue with Moorish interior. * Old Jewish Cemetery (Starý židovský hřbitov): 15th- to 18th-century cemetery. Europe's oldest surviving Jewish cemetery. * Old New Synagogue (Staronová synagoga): 13th-century Gothic synagogue. * Ceremonial Hall of the Prague Jewish Burial Society (Obřadní síň): 20th-century

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

hall.

Gallery

Image:Jusefov2045.JPG, Jewish Cemetery and surrounding buildings Image:Jusefov41.JPG, The cemetery itself Image:Jusefov39.JPG, The surrounding buildings Image:Jusefov38.JPG, A few steps apart File:Ciezarnakobietajosefov.jpg, A monument of a pregnant woman made of mirrors

References

External links

Jewish Museum in Prague

Prague Tours
{{Authority control Districts of Prague Historic Jewish communities Jewish Quarters Jewish Czech history Jewish ghettos in Europe Tourist attractions in Prague Cadastral territories in Prague Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor