The Golem legend: Prague's most famous myth

Every other shop in the Old Town sells a small clay-coloured man with a hard face. He is the Golem, and his story is older than the souvenirs and stranger than most people expect. It's also a story about fear, protection and what happens when a tool takes on a life of its own.

The story

In the usual telling, a rabbi in sixteenth-century Prague shapes a human figure from clay and brings it to life by placing a paper with a sacred name or word in its mouth. The Golem protects the city's Jewish community from attacks and false accusations. Then it turns violent or uncontrollable. The rabbi removes the paper, and the Golem becomes clay again. According to the legend, the remains lie in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue.

The rabbi is Judah Loew ben Bezalel, known as Rabbi Loew or the Maharal, a real scholar and religious leader who lived in Prague and died in 1609. He is buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery, where visitors still leave small stones and notes on the grave.

Where the legend comes from

Historians point out that the Golem story doesn't appear in records from Loew's lifetime. It took shape later and became popular in the nineteenth century, when writers collected and retold folk tales. Golem figures also appear in older Jewish traditions, where the word refers to something unformed. The Prague version tied the idea to a famous rabbi and a specific place.

In the early twentieth century the story reached a wider audience through literature and film. Gustav Meyrink's novel The Golem (1915) set it in a half-real, half-nightmarish Prague ghetto, and the German silent film The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920) shaped the visual image of the clay giant. Both influenced later tales of artificial creatures, from film monsters to modern fantasy.

Places to see

The Old-New Synagogue (Staronová synagoga) in Josefov is one of the oldest functioning synagogues in Europe. The attic is closed to visitors. You can visit the interior as a place of worship under the rules of the Jewish Community of Prague; our guide to the Jewish Museum explains how its ticket differs from the museum's.

The Old Jewish Cemetery holds Rabbi Loew's tomb. A statue of the rabbi by the sculptor Ladislav Šaloun, from 1910, stands at the corner of the New Town Hall on Mariánské náměstí, a bearded figure in thought. Šaloun's work belongs to the Art Nouveau period; see Art Nouveau in Prague.

The souvenir problem

Golem figures sell well. Some are decent folk craft and many are mass-produced. Treat one as a souvenir, not an artefact, and compare prices. The story is the interesting part.

Why the story lasts

The themes are old: the creator and his creation, protection turning into danger, the fragility of a community under threat. Prague's Jewish quarter saw both tolerance and violence, and that history gives the tale weight. You could also read the Golem as a very early robot story. The word "robot" itself comes from the Čapek brothers, coined by Josef for Karel's play; see our list of Czech literature for newcomers.

For the sceptics

If you want facts, read about the rabbi, who was an influential thinker, and about the real history of Josefov. If you want myth, read Meyrink and watch the 1920 film. Both are good.

For other tales, see our guide to Prague legends every visitor should know.

Do this today

Take the metro to Staroměstská, walk into Josefov and look at the outside of the Old-New Synagogue. Then read the first chapter of Meyrink on your phone. The Golem makes more sense in the streets that produced him.