A guided tour of the 17th century Jewish cemetery, which was largely destroyed in early 1960s and then in the 1980s when the Czech TV tower was built there. A large part of the cemetery was dug up, tombstones were knocked down and broken and the rest of the cemetery was filled in a turned into a park.
Though only a small part of the cemetery still exists, it covers a broad range of styles, from Baroque, Empire and Romantic to the common forms of the latter half of the 19th century. In 1999, the Jewish Museum in Prague took over the administration of the preserved part, which is a protected historical monument. Following essential structural repairs and basic restoration work, the cemetery was opened to the public in September 2001. The restoration of the tombstones continued and 164 tombstones and 4 tombs had been restored by the end of 2013.
There are two Jewish cemeteries and two tours — the Old Jewish Cemetery at 6 p.m. and the New Jewish Cemetery at 7 p.m. You can register for one or both.
In the old Jewish cemetery the oldest gravestone goes back to the year 1679. The cemetery was used until the summer of 1875. The new Jewish cemetery was established in fall of 1875 as the “successor cemetery” to the older one and was used until 1938. In just a few unusual cases, there were burials after 1945.
Registration is mandatory up to 2 days before the event, limited number of participants (by phone: +43 (0) 2682 65145 or by E-mail: info@ojm.at).
As part of the European Heritage Days, there will be a guided tour of the exhibit Baroque Synagogues in the Czech Lands. The exhibition is complemented by panels mapping the history of Prostějov synagogues and Jewish prayer houses and the Prostějov Jewish community in general. During the guided tour, you will learn more about some of the exhibited objects. For example, part of the rosette stained glass window, which was saved from the destroyed Olomouc synagogue.
The exhibition is organized in cooperation with the Museum and Gallery in Prostějov, the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Statutory City of Prostějov, the Respect and Tolerance Association, the Comenius Museum in Přerov and the Hanácký Jeruzalém Association. The guided tour will be the curator of the exhibition Filip Gregor from the Prostějov Museum.
Guided tour of the Wertheimer synagogue, accessible as part of the Austrian Jewish Museum. Dedicated to Jewish life in the province of Burgenland, the museum opened in 1982 in the former mansion of Samson Wertheimer (1659-1724). The private synagogue is part of the mansion.
Wertheimer had a prominent role at the Viennese court, where from 1694 to 1709 he worked for emperors Leopold I, Joseph I, and Charles VI as Hofoberfaktor or chief administrator of financial affairs. He also served the Esterhazy family in Burgenland and was Rabbi of Hungary and Moravia.
A mob destroyed Eisenstadt’s main synagogue on Kristallnacht in 1938 but the they overlooked the Wertheimer Shul, hidden in the mansion. The synagogue was re-consecrated for Jewish worship in 1979.
In its current form the synagogue dates almost entirely from 1832, having been refurbished after the Eisenstadt ghetto was badly damaged in a fire of 1795. Its design includes many elements typical of the period, including a high ceiling and a chandelier hanging from a painted rosette. At the inauguration of the building in 1834, members of the community contributed ceremonial silver, a painted glass beaker for the Hevrah Kadisha (Burial Society), Torah scrolls, an elaborate Parohet (Ark curtain) and a parchment Megillah (Scroll of the Book of Esther) executed by the scribe Elie Gabriel, all of which are among the items displayed in the museum today.
A nighttime tour of the Old and New Jewish cemeteries, in Eisenstadt. Bring a flashlight!
Of the older cemetery, in used from 1679 to 1874, can be considered one of the most important Jewish cemeteries in Europe. The newer cemetery, used until 1938, tells stories about the last decades of Jewish life in Eisenstadt.
Guided tour of the Wertheimer synagogue, accessible as part of the Austrian Jewish Museum. Dedicated to Jewish life in the province of Burgenland, the museum opened in 1982 in the former mansion of Samson Wertheimer (1659-1724). The private synagogue is part of the mansion.
Wertheimer had a prominent role at the Viennese court, where from 1694 to 1709 he worked for emperors Leopold I, Joseph I, and Charles VI as Hofoberfaktor or chief administrator of financial affairs. He also served the Esterhazy family in Burgenland and was Rabbi of Hungary and Moravia.
A mob destroyed Eisenstadt’s main synagogue on Kristallnacht in 1938 but the they overlooked the Wertheimer Shul, hidden in the mansion. The synagogue was re-consecrated for Jewish worship in 1979.
In its current form the synagogue dates almost entirely from 1832, having been refurbished after the Eisenstadt ghetto was badly damaged in a fire of 1795. Its design includes many elements typical of the period, including a high ceiling and a chandelier hanging from a painted rosette. At the inauguration of the building in 1834, members of the community contributed ceremonial silver, a painted glass beaker for the Hevrah Kadisha (Burial Society), Torah scrolls, an elaborate Parohet (Ark curtain) and a parchment Megillah (Scroll of the Book of Esther) executed by the scribe Elie Gabriel, all of which are among the items displayed in the museum today.
The annual Day of Jewish Monuments in the Czech Republic opens Jewish heritage sites all over the country to visitors.
(It does not seems to be coordinated within the umbrella of the European Day of Jewish Culture).
On the web site, you can find lists of events and an interactive map with a list of participating sites and opening hours.
Jewish Country Houses and the Holocaust In History and Memory
This conference will investigate the fate in the Holocaust of Jewish country houses and the people who inhabited them. It will explore memory cultures that emerged afterwards and the Cold War context that shaped them. The conference will address and support curatorial, artistic, and narrative practices telling the difficult stories of genocide linked to these properties. As it does so, it will bring together academic historians, heritage professionals, and artists over three days at the Methodological Centre of Modern Architecture at the Villa Stiassni in Brno, Czech Republic. The built heritage of the Villa Stiassni, visits to the nearby villas Tugendhat and Löw-Beer, and an exploration of the experiences and memories of the Czech Jewish industrialist families who inhabited and fled from them will be an integral part of the conference.
This international conference aims to explore the Jewish experience in Sommerfrische (Summer holiday) destinations, summer resorts, and spas, focusing on the particular urban processes that led to their emergence and the factors that transformed them into spaces of possibility in a rural or small-town context.
JHE’s Ruth Ellen Gruber will speak about “Those Who Stayed (and One Who Came Back” about Jewish cemeteries in health resort towns, focusing on Merano/Merano, Italy.
The annual Day of Jewish Monuments in the Czech Republic, sponsored by the Prague Jewish Community, the Federation of Jewish Communities and others.
Click to see the preliminary program
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