Jewish Museum in Prague: a visitor's guide

Josefov is small enough to cross in ten minutes, and it holds more history per square metre than almost anywhere in Prague. The Jewish Museum looks after much of it. Knowing how it is laid out saves you a muddled afternoon and a ticket you didn't need.

What the museum is

It isn't one gallery but a set of historic sites in the old Jewish Quarter, each with its own exhibition. The museum was founded in 1906, partly to save objects from synagogues that were being demolished as the quarter was redeveloped. Its collections have since grown into a large holding of Judaica. Check the official site for the current programme.

The sites

The Maisel Synagogue tells the story of Jews in the Czech lands from the earliest times to the eighteenth century, with silver and other objects from the collection. The Spanish Synagogue is known for its Moorish-style interior, with richly decorated walls and ceilings, and it carries exhibitions on more recent history. The Klausen Synagogue and the Ceremonial Hall by the cemetery cover customs, traditions and the Jewish life cycle.

The Pinkas Synagogue is a memorial. Its walls carry the names of Jewish victims of the Holocaust from Bohemia and Moravia, written by hand after the war and later restored. The names run from floor to ceiling. Expect silence, and don't hurry.

The Old Jewish Cemetery is entered along the museum route. Graves are packed together, layered over the centuries because there was no room to expand, and the stones lean at odd angles. It is dense and strange. Rabbi Loew is buried here, and the story that grew around his name is in our guide to the Golem legend.

The Old-New Synagogue

The Old-New Synagogue (Staronová synagoga) is one of the oldest surviving synagogues in Europe, Gothic in date, and still a place of worship. The Jewish Community of Prague runs it, not the museum, so it has its own entry arrangements and a separate ticket. It is the detail people miss most often.

Planning the visit

Allow half a day for the main sites, more if you like to read. The museum is closed on Saturdays and on Jewish holidays, so open days shift from year to year. Check the official calendar, especially in autumn when several holidays fall. Tickets are sold at the sites, and the official site explains the combined ticket in detail.

This is a place of memory, so behave accordingly. In synagogues and the cemetery, men may be asked to cover their heads (the museum can supply head coverings), photography rules vary by site, and there is security at the entrances. Leave a few minutes for the checks.

For the wider story, our short history of Prague is a useful companion. For another kind of remembrance, Terezín is a day trip away.

Do this today

Check the museum's calendar for the next open day, take the metro to Staroměstská and start at the Maisel Synagogue so the later sites make sense. Save the Pinkas Synagogue for when you're not in a rush.