Jews in the Bohemian Lands

The Maisel Synagogue in Prague, one of the dominant buildings of the former Jewish Town of Prague, will reopen to the public on the 1st of July 2015, after being closed for more than a year. The Jewish Museum in Prague – which includes the synagogue in its tour route – carried out preservation and restoration work on the synagogue over the last year and prepared a new permanent exhibition for its numerous visitors.

The Jewish Museum’s new exhibition is entitled JEWS IN THE BOHEMIAN LANDS, 10TH–18TH CENTURY. It draws on the latest research findings and makes the topic more attractive as a result of its new arrangement, its selection of exhibits and, above all, the inclusion of audio-visual and interactive elements. Particularly worthy of note is the several-minute “Flight Over the Prague Jewish Town” in its pre-redevelopment form, as based on Langweil’s famous model of Prague. This unique virtual tour will be projected onto a large screen in the main nave of the synagogue. It has been put together as a result of a collaboration by the Jewish Museum in Prague, the City of Prague Museum and the Czech Technical University in Prague (ČVUT). The exhibition seeks to convey the inner life of Jewish communities in the Bohemian lands and to show the diversity of their relationship with the wider society.