Baroque Synagogues in the Czech Lands
July 26, 2011 - An ongoing exhibition at the Jewish Museum's Robert Guttmann Gallery showcases Jewish synagogues throughout Bohemia and Moravia.
The synagogue in Úsov (1784) (photo: Jewishmuseum.cz)
Until August 28, visitors to Prague can admire photographs and other documentation of baroque synagogues.
The exhibition offers detailed information of lesser-known monuments that uniquely reflect the history and culture of the traditional Jewish communities in the Czech lands. Synagogues were the main and, for the most part, the only centre of religious and social life and education for these communities. These old synagogues, which have been preserved only rarely, are also valuable examples of local building, which forms an integral part of the Czech Republic’s architectural heritage.
The buildings provide unique evidence of the history and culture of Jewish communities in the pre-Emancipation period and are interesting examples of the influence of local artistic styles, builders and craftsmen on their formation and decoration. Many of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Baroque synagogues in the Czech lands clearly reflect this interaction, demonstrating that permanent cultural exchange occurred between the inhabitants of Jewish communities and their surrounding environment – despite all the restrictions and separation regulations imposed by the Church and authorities.
Some of these monuments managed to survive unfavourable external conditions, including Church restrictions and prohibitions, pogroms, expulsions and racial persecution. In recent years, they have been thoroughly renovated under the care of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, the Jewish communities of Prague and Brno, the Jewish Museum in Prague and other institutions. The exhibition features synagogues that have been successfully renovated.
The exhibition "Baroque Synagogues in the Czech Lands" runs until August 28 at the Robert Guttmann Gallery, U Staré školy 3 (map). For more information, visit Jewishmuseum.cz.
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