JHE Coordinator Ruth Ellen Gruber spent much of last week criss-crossing the Czech Republic to visit as many of the newly inaugurated sites of the 10 Stars project as she could… alas, due to distance, bad weather and delays due to road construction, she only managed to visit seven of them….
We have posted photo galleries of these seven sites in our new Photo Gallery section.
As we have reported in earlier posts, the 10 Stars project includes 10 synagogues and associated Jewish heritage sites, in 10 towns all over the country: in Úštěk, Jičín, and Brandýs nad Labem to the north; Plzeň and Březnice to the west; Nová Cerekev and Polná in the south-central part of the country; and Boskovice, Mikulov and Krnov to the east. (REG got to all except Plzeň, Krnov and Březnice, though she had seen Březnice last year when it was not yet completed.)
The sites have all been renovated (or re-renovated) with a mono-thematic exhibit installed in each to form 10 regional centers of Jewish culture and education (and tourism). (See previous posts on the progress of the 10 Stars project HERE and HERE and HERE.)
Carried out by the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, the 10 Stars is the most ambitious single Jewish heritage project in the Czech Republic and was financed by an approximately €11 million grant from the EU, with further funding from the Czech Culture Ministry.
The synagogue renovations were aimed at restoring the buildings to their pre-World War II state — even splendor. Some of the synagogues (in Úštěk, Boskovice, Jičín, Polná, Mikulov) had undergone at least partial restoration in the past, and they have now either been re-restored to correct past errors, or adapted to house new exhibits. The other buildings had stood empty, were neglected, or had been used as storage or for other purposes, such as an archive (Krnov).
The most radical re-restoration was in Mikulov, where a renovation of the “Upper” or “Great” synagogue (originally built in the mid-16th century and later renovated in Baroque style) in the late 1970s and early 1980s had largely eliminated the interior furnishings and decoration, including the Baroque Ark, wall paintings, and other details. The 10 Stars restoration used old photographs and other sources to recreate the Ark and interior ornamentation, including the wall paintings.
Only one of the synagogues, the Old Synagogue in Plzeň (which REG did not manage to see), is in a town where there is an active Jewish community today and will be used for religious services as well as for exhibits and cultural events; its thematic exhibit is on Jewish life and traditions.
The thematic exhibitions are installed in the synagogues themselves, or in separate buildings (such as Rabbi’s house; Jewish school; Jewish municipal house/school); or in both a separate building and the synagogue. The themes of the exhibitions generally are connected with the place: that in Polná, the scene of a notorious blood libel case in 1899, for example, deals with that case and anti-Semitism in general; that in Boskovice, which has one of the most extensive and intact historic Jewish quarters in central Europe, deals with Jewish quarters and histroric ghettos; that in Mikulov, once (known as Nikolsburg, the seat of Moravian rabbis) deals with Rabbi Loew and Jewish Learning in Moravia).
(Note: One weakness, at least for foreign visitors, is that the exhibition panels and other information is all in Czech. Some translations into English — including translations of all the material on the electronic touch screens that form part of each exhibit — will be forthcoming, but this was not yet available when REG visited last week. There is also, so far, only limited promotion of the sites, including a lack of signage in the towns and information material in local tourism offices — we hope that these initial kinks, part of any start-up, will soon be worked out. )
The new restorations were carried out with great care and are breathtaking — REG was struck particularly by the restoration of the neo-classical synagogue in Brandýs nad Labem, built in 1828-29, which was used as a medical warehouse after 1962 and storage space for the Prague Jewish Museum after it returned to Jewish ownership in 1995.
Most of the 10 Stars sites are located in old Jewish quarters (Boskovice and Polna have particularly well-preserved and well-defined Jewish quarters). Historic mikvahs (ritual baths) are open to visitors in Polná and Boskovice.
And there are also well-maintained Jewish cemeteries, dating back centuries, that can easily be visited. Those in Brandýs nad Labem, Nová Cerekev, Mikulov and Boskovice are within an easy walk of the synagogues.
Visit the 10 Stars web site for information on each synagogue/site
SEE OUR JHE PHOTO GALLERIES FOR:
1 comment on “Czech 10 Stars — Touring the Constellation”
Just reading N. Y. T and Haaretz:Israel accept cease fire proposal by Egypt,but Hamas don’t.
The everlasting ,continuing of hate as in France (against a Synagogue in Paris)-and just above thge opposite :marvellous pictures from the Czech Repoblic!!! and stories- demonstrations in the Hague(Netherlands),fortunately police intervention because of H-Swastika=Mageen David,makes me sad and angry and fills me with strenght(just because of the past my family and friend’s families “lived”through!