Name: Josefov: A Thousand Years of Jewish Prague
SKU: 254

Around 1900 Prague tore down almost all of its old Jewish Town. Six synagogues, a town hall and a cemetery were left standing. This walk goes from one to the next, entirely from the street, and asks at each what was kept and who kept it: the oldest synagogue in Europe still used for prayer and the rabbi who became famous for a legend he had nothing to do with; the emperor’s banker whose fortune was seized after his death; a town hall clock that runs backward; the city official who settled the claims for the demolished houses and helped found a museum to save what was inside them; the curators of 1942 who kept the possessions of families being deported; the names on the walls of the Pinkas Synagogue; and a cemetery the city could only trim. Real people, named from the record, told with care. Because nothing on the walk needs a ticket, it works any day, including Saturdays and Jewish holidays when the museum is closed.

The stops

Kafka’s Corner: What Was Kept
The Spanish Synagogue: The Brother and the Sisters
Pařížská: The Avenue Over the Ghetto
The Old-New Synagogue: The Rabbi Before the Legend
The Jewish Town Hall: A Clock That Runs Backward
The Klausen and the Ceremonial Hall: Saved From the Wreckage
The Maisel Synagogue: The Emperor’s Banker
The Pinkas Synagogue: A Museum for No One
The Cemetery Wall: The Ground That Was Not Leveled

Finding the start

Start on náměstí Franze Kafky, the small square at the north-west corner of Old Town Square, between the church of St. Nicholas and the corner house with the bronze bust of Kafka. From Staroměstská metro (line A) walk east along Kaprova street, about 400 meters.

Terrain and access

Flat, about one and a half kilometers, with no steps on the route; setts and cobbles nearly everywhere, bumpy for wheelchairs and strollers. Thirteen street crossings, all zebras or unmarked, no traffic lights; the tram street 17. listopadu is not crossed. Crowded around the Old-New and Pinkas synagogues at midday. No admissions needed: everything is told from the street, and the museum’s sites are only pointed to. Staroměstská metro (line A) is about 400 meters from the start and 250 meters from the end and has no step-free entrance.

Tickets

No admissions needed: everything is told from the street.

Keep going

What you get

An email from [email protected] with a link and an access code.
Use it on your phone or tablet in an up-to-date web browser, no app store needed. There is no account to set up before you start.
Download it on Wi-Fi before you go. After that it works offline: audio, text, map and pictures.
Your booking includes 2 phones, so two of you can follow along, each on your own. Extra phones are $2.95 each, or a group can share one phone on its speaker.
Play, pause and replay every part, skip back and ahead, or change the playback speed. Keep the screen on or tap play at each stop.

How it was made

Every fact in the narration is checked against a cited source, and legends are told as legends. The narration is written from that research. How our tours are made.