DK Travel : Prague : Old Jewish Cemetery

Old Jewish Cemetery

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The crumbling image of the Old Jewish Cemetery is a moving memorial to Prague’s once considerable Jewish community. As this was one of the few burial sites available to Prague’s Jews, when the plot was full, graves built up in layers – estimates put the number at about 200,000, with the oldest head-stone dating from 1439. The final burial took place in 1787, but stroll through the enclosure and you’ll get a sense of noble lives once lived.

Top 10 Features

1. Avigdor Kara’s Grave

The oldest grave is that of this poet and scholar, best known for his documentation of the pogrom of 1389, which he survived as a child.
2. Mordecai Maisel’s Grave

Mordecai Maisel (1528–1601) was ghetto mayor during the reign of Rudolf II, and funded the synagogue that bears his name (see Maisel Synagogue).
3. Rabbi Loew’s Grave

The burial site of one of Prague’s major Jewish figures, Rabbi Jehuda Loew ben Bezalel (1520– 1609), and creator of (see The Golem).
4. David Gans’s Tombstone

A pupil of Rabbi Loew, Gans (1541–1613) was the author of a seminal two-volume history of the Jewish people. He was also an accomplished astronomer during the time of Johannes Kepler. His headstone is marked with the Star of David, after his name and his faith.
5. Klausen Synagogue

5. Klausen Synagogue

Mordechai Maisel also commissioned the building of the Klausen Synagogue on the cemetery’s northern edge. It now houses exhibitions on Jewish festivals and traditions.
6. Rabbi Oppenheim’s Grave

Rabbi David Oppenheim was the first chief rabbi of Moravia, and later chief rabbi of Bohemia and finally of Prague, where he died in 1734.
7. Gothic Tombstones

The eastern wall of the cemetery holds fragments of Gothic tombstones rescued in 1866 from another graveyard near Vladislavova street. Further graves at another site were uncovered in the 1990s.
8. Hendl Bashevi’s Grave

This elaborate tombstone marks the resting place of the so-called “Jewish Queen”, Hendl Bashevi. Her husband, mayor Jacob Bashevi, was knighted and permitted a coat of arms, seen on his wife’s gravestone.
9. Zemach Graves

Next to the Pinkas Synagogue) is a square gravestone where Mordechai Zemach (d. 1592) is buried with his son Bezalel (d. 1589). The name Zemach means “spring” in Hebrew.
10. Nephele Mound

Stillborn children, miscarried babies and other infants who died under a year old were buried in the southeast corner of the cemetery.

Practical Information

It is customary for men to wear a yarmulka (skull cap) in the synagogues. Look for them near the entrance, but return it when you leave. The Museum of Decorative Arts’ east-facing windows offer an excellent crowd-free view of the cemetery (see Museum of Decorative Arts). Old Jewish Cemetery: U Starého hřbitova 224 819456, www.jewishmuseum.cz Open Apr–Oct: 9am–6pm Sun–Fri; Nov– Mar: 9am– 4:30pm; Closed Jewish holidays Adm Kč300 (includes entrance to various synagogues) Old-New Synagogue: Pařižká Open 9am–6pm Mon–Thu & Sun, 9am–5pm Fri, Adm Kč200