Jewish Heritage Report
Vol. I, No. 2 / Summer 1997
Jewish Museum in Prague Restores Spanish Synagogue
Jewish Museum in Prague Restores Spanish Synagogue
The Jewish Museum in Prague is restoring the magnificent Moorish-style
Spanish Synagogue in Prague, built in 1867-8 (interior 1882-93). Since
1995, $120,000 has been spent to repair the building's roof. When preservation
is complete, the building will house an exhibition presenting the history
of the Bohemian and Moravian Jews from their emancipation at the end of
the 18th century to the end of World War II. This project follows the restoration
of the Pinkus and Klausen Synagogues, also part of the Museum.
The Spanish Synagogue is built on the site where once stood Prague’s oldest
Jewish prayer house, The Old Shul, built in the 11th or 12th century, originally
used by Jews of the East Byzantine rite. The Old Shul, destroyed and rebuilt
many times, was finally demolished in 1868 and replaced by the present
structure, built in the then popular Moorish or Spanish style, which gave
the synagogue its common name. The building, designed by Prague architects
Vojtech Ignac Ullmann and Josef Niklas, has a central square plan with
an oversized cupola above the central space. The interior decoration, based
on the designs by A. Baum and B. Munzberger, was completed in 1893 and
includes gilded and polychrome Islamic motifs, carved decorations in wood
surfaces and windows glazed with colored vitrailles.
During the German occupation, the synagogue was used to store belongings
stolen from the Jews. From 1960 until 1979, the State Jewish Museum utilized
the building for a permanent exhibition of synagogue textiles. The building
was then closed due to structural instability. Repairs to the building
were not forthcoming and the deterioration of the synagogue and of its
collections continued unabated.
The Jewish Museum in Prague is no longer a State Museum. In 1993, the museum,
including the synagogue buildings and all the holdings, was returned to
the Jewish Community of the Czech Republic. As a private institution, the
museum now relies completely on its own limited resources and thus is unable
to cover the full costs of the Spanish Synagogue restoration. Therefore,
the Museum seeks funding assistance from individuals and institutions.
The Museum hopes to complete the entire $1.5 million dollar restoration
project in time for the building’s 130th anniversary in 1998.
Those interested in making a contribution can contact
either the ISJM or the American Friends of the Jewish Museum, Project Judaica
Foundation, 900 Second Street, NE, Suite 205, Washington, DC, 20002 or
fax (202) 371-0898.
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Updated: 24-Jul-98