The restoration of the Moorish-style 19th century synagogue and adjacent rabbi’s house in Žatec, a small town 80 km northwest of Prague, is up for a national heritage award — and you can vote for it online as one part of the competition.
The synagogue restoration is one of nearly two dozen projects nominated for the Patrimonium Pro Futuro award, presented by the Culture Ministry’s National Institute Monuments Institute. It honours “positive and successful initiatives in the field of monument preservation completed in the previous year.”
Experts choose the main prize — but the awards also include a Public Thanks Monuments Award — for which people can cast their votes online.
You can vote until September 30. The winner will be announced November 28.
To vote — click HERE, then scroll down to the entry for the synagogue and click the red button (Hlasovat). You need to provide your email address to receive a confirmation. Or — click HERE and click the green button (Hlasovat).
Built in 1871-1872 and designed by the architect Johann Staňek, the synagogue, noted for its two side towers, was burnt out but not destroyed on the so-called Kristallnacht in November 1938. It was used as a military hospital and school during WW2; then as a warehouse.
Long empty and in deteriorating condition, the synagogue and rabbi’s house were bought in 2013 by a private individual, Daniel Černý, who from 2019 oversaw a full-scale renovation of the buildings that was completed in 2022. Most of the €2 million costs of the project were covered with grants from the state and the EU.
The complex will serve as a cultural centre with a permanent exhibition on local Jewish history.
“So clearly, buying a synagogue in the center of Žatec was not the most reasonable idea in my life,” Černý says on the synagogue web site. “But that building has been through a lot in recent decades, whether under the Nazis, in the previous regime, or under previous owners who did not repair the building sufficiently. It was time to break the curse.”
The exhibition is currently being processed, after its completion both buildings will be made available to the public. Daniel Černý thus not only saved the physical essence of two cultural monuments, but also contributed to the rehabilitation and revitalization of another part of the historic city center. In Žatec, a city which, thanks to the complex historical development in the 20th century, has not yet fully come to terms with its historical identity created by German and Jewish residents, such a step is extremely meritorious.
Access the Awards page, to vote
Access the synagogue web site, which documents the restoration process in pictures
Access the synagogue’s Facebook page, which documents the restoration process
See a collection for 3-D models of the synagogue before restoration