Jewish Museum in Prague

A tour of the Jewish quarter. It's about 890kc so not inexpensive. Arrive at 0900 and go straight to the cemetery area. Visit the outside areas later. Ticket valid 3 days. Because of security arriving later can mean joining a very very long queue. The tour itself is emotional. The Spanish synagogue is the artistic highlight. The Maisel Synagogue for history. The cemetery area for tears. Do visit the outside exhibition for harrowing historical photos.

Didn't visit the museum but the cafe serves great food. Loved the home made soups and pastries, hot chocolate and hot wine. Very friendly service. Well worth visiting.

A truly moving place that once again evokes deep reflection on humanity. The indoor exhibition space was surprisingly small, but the visit concludes outdoors, exiting through a thought-provoking cemetery that leaves a lasting impression.

Lots of history. Very well organized. You get a lot for the price you pay for a ticket (6 sites).

The ticket for around €20 gets you a 3 day pass to so many of the historic synagogues and museums, which were extremely informative and at times incredibly moving. Me and my friend were blown away ❤️

The Jewish quarter in Prague is rich in culture, art, architecture and very beautiful buildings. This is one of the places I wouldn't miss on my next visit to Prague

A moving experience stepping back in time and learning about the Jewish history of the city - including the 80.000 names written by hand of those who perished during the Holocaust. I also recommend doing a walking tour of the Jewish quarter. Fascinating!

Had to wait quite awhile to enter the Pinkas Synagogue and the old Cemetery. Worth it.

My family and I visited the Prague Jewish Wuarter on our recent trip. The sites were beautiful and moving. We were especially moved by the cemetery and Pinkas synagogue. We are glad we visited. It wasn't the most kid friendly of sites but we bought the audio guide and that kept him largely occupied. He was interested in the stories of Gollum. The audio guides and tickets were really expensive, by far the most expensive thing we did on our trip. A family ticket for 3 of us with the audio firs was about $80 USD. So that's the only thing to note. Make sure you set aside enough time and money if you choose to do the various sites.

Great collection of museums and synagogues. The highlights were the Spanish synagogue, Old-New Synagogue, and old cemetery. Prices are pretty high at 20 euros (500 czk) per person. The front desk worker very aggressively tried to upsell us on audio guides, which cost an additional 250 czk (10 euros) per person. We declined, and she argued with us, and then tried to add them on anyway! Having seen the collection, I am confident that the audio guides are not worth it at all. A very unpleasant experience. However, the docents at the individual synagogues were all great.

Sobering. Being married to a Jewish man, my best friend from childhood until now being Jewish, I find this synagogue to be so inspiring at the resiliency of a people, and heart-wrenching with such disgust at the horrific way people treat other people. I cannot imagine the fear, horror and deep sadness these people (and across Europe) must have felt. This museum with the displays, graveyard, names written across the walls, was a blessing to see.

This is extremely moving. Be careful when buying tickets. We only bought for the one museum and outside. It is about 30-45 minutes. My last visit I do not recall a ticket needed for the cemetery, but there is currently a charge of about $22US My pics were not good but sometimes just need to be seen in person!

The price structure of the Jewish Museum is set up to gouge as much out of the visitor as possible. Only the most expensive option of 500 kcz includes both the Old-New Synagogue and Jewish cemetery. For just the Old-New Synagogue alone, the price is 200 kcz. For just the cemetery and several other synagogues, the price is 330 kcz. So to see both, you have to pay the maximum. Ugh! (There is no option for just Old-New synagogue and cemetery.)

Our path took us from the Spanish Synagogue to Pinkas Synagogue, and out onto the street to the Josefov Old Jewish Quarter and Museum. We had followed the map handed to us by the ticket lady up to this point, and figured we might as well continue on by heading into this museum. It's laid out pretty much the same as the other locations within the Josefov realm. There are displays - some with placards in English - lining the walls, giving a glimpse into how Czech Jews lived, worked and celebrated before the Nazis came in and turned their worlds upside-down. The details are beautifully arranged, and even if you can't read Czech, you get a sense of what they're trying to impart by the way the items are displayed, or by the pieces around them. This museum felt a bit smaller than the synagogues, though I'm not entirely sure it was. Maybe it was just that crowded when we went in. The street outside certainly was - there were people blocking the door to this museum and the one across the street, so it might just be that I was feeling the crush at that point. Despite that, I did enjoy viewing the different pieces on display. We'd seen some of them - or items that were similar - along the way in the synagogues, but that didn't diminish the power of the displays. Definitely worth the time and the visit, if only for the impact of the history.

No trip to Prague would be complete without a visit to the Josefov, or Old Jewish Quarter. Arguably Europe's most complete example of a Jewish ghetto, this tiny area contains many old buildings, including synagogues, a cemetery and houses, most of which are now part of a unified museum. History The origins of the Jewish quarter go back to early mediaeval times, possibly as early as the 10th century: the earliest pogrom is certainly recorded there around 1096. In the 13th century a walled ghetto was established, and relatively enlightened local administrators granted it a degree of self-government in 1292. This didn't stop regular pogroms, however, although the ghetto also became prosperous. In the latter half of the 18th century, formal toleration of the Jews enabled them to live outside the ghetto, and it gradually declined. Much was rebuilt during the 19th and early 20th century, so the claustrophobic streets which once housed nearly 20,000 people no longer exist. However, a selection of buildings did survive, and a Jewish Museum was established here in 1906 to save the remaining buildings and artefacts. Miraculously, it survived the Nazi occupation of Prague during World War II; although closed to the public in 1939, the Nazis established their own 'Central Jewish Museum' in 1942, to which artefacts from other, liquidated Jewish quarters were shipped, supposedly to form a museum to what they intended to be an extinct race. It is a supreme irony, then, that the museum is now a celebration of Jewish culture and the history of the ghetto. The museum The museum comprises: the Maisel Synagogue, Spanish Synagogue, Pinkas Synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Klausen Synagogue and the Ceremonial Hall, together with an education centre, gallery, library and coffee shop. All the buildings are located within a five minute walk of each other in the Josefov district. The exhibitions in the various buildings cover the life and development of the ghettos, a wide range of artefacts from Jewish religion and daily life, and - most heart rending of all - in the Pinkas Synagogue, the walls are inscribed with the names of the 80,000 Czech victims of the holocaust. There is also an equally harrowing, yet strangely touching, exhibition of drawings made by dozens of children who were interned the Terezín transit camp from 1941 to 1945. This was the result of a deliberate policy by the inmates to make life for the children as 'normal' as possible, and included school lessons as well as recreational activities such as drawing. The images, by children as young as 5, portray life within the camps, such as Nazi guards, other inmates and more usual subjects such as family members, the changing seasons and animals. Most of the children died subsequently in the Concentration camps. It's the sort of place that everyone should visit at least once. Practicalities You can buy a combined ticket for all the sites, or one that also includes the Old New Synagogue (which is otherwise administered separately). Any of the individual buildings will sell tickets. Many of the buildings do not have level access, and on busy days (most notably Sunday, when weekend visitors are in town) the individual buildings can get claustrophobically packed. Avoid Sundays (it's not open on Saturday) and try and get there early in summer. The nearest metro is Starémêstá.

I would concur with David J: Hitler planned on staging his museum for the extinction of the Jews here, thereby amassing the most articles and antiques that displayed various aspects of Jewish life in the ghetto. The sick spin from the Germans, best described by Wladyslaw Szpilman... "There was to be a separate Jewish quarter of the city where only Jews lived, where they would enjoy total freedom, where they could continue to practice their racial customs and culture. Purely for hygienic reasons, this quarter was to be surrounded by a wall so that typhus and other Jewish diseases could not spread to other parts of the city. This humanitarian report was illustrated by a small map showing the precise borders of the ghetto." I found David J's review to be excellent in every way. Instead, I concentrate on the insult to one's humanity and the heart-rending emotions difficult to keep in check, walking through the museum in which the names are spoken aloud as one spies them listed on a lit wall.....life of children in Terezin whose teachers tried hard to shield them from the evil imminent fate, by teaching and holding regular school... their art work, their belongings....here one day, suddenly disappeared the next. An entire half day could easily be devoted to poring through the various buildings, including the unforgettable truly cramped, humble space for the cemetery, in which bodies are stacked, one on top of the other. The Khmer genocide killing fields, the '37 Rape of Nanking, the Rwandan Tutsi genocide, Siege of Sarajevo, apartheid, DCR's outrages, the Holocaust... an assault to one is an assault to all of humanity.

If you really want to say you went inside old Jewish synagogues, this might be worth it. But otherwise I'd say just walk around the area and admire for free from outside. I paid to go into all of them except the Old Synagogue. Don't expect to spend too long in any of them. I think it was 15-30 minutes at each. My favorite was the Spanish Synagogue as the interior was beautiful. It also had a nice collection to look at and read some history. Overall, I felt like it cost a little more than it should.

The best Jewish museum I have ever been to. It contains about 4 synagogues and a Jewish cemetery. A ton of information about Jews in the area dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. Also a lot of information about the holocaust which was obviously sad but very interesting as well. Many shops around the area had judaica, and it was also in the heart of the Jewish quarter of Prague so there were many kosher restaurants, etc.

The museum consists of separate buildings in a localized area. You can easily walk between all the buildings, the farthest being the Spanish synagogue (also the most beautiful and worth visiting). Ticket price varies on how many sights you see inside the museum, but you cannot buy a ticket for one building. For example you cannot buy a ticket to only see the old Jewish cemetery. Instead you buy a tour 2 or 3. We went with tour 2, which omits the old-new synagogue but let's you see everything else and costs 300 Czech. In comparison the full price ticket is 480 Czech. I really enjoyed wandering the different buildings, each having its one style or feeing inside. There are small exhibits throughout the buildings that are interesting and help me learn more about Jewish customs and culture. There is some information on the holocaust as well. I would recommend a visit to the Jewish museum if you are visiting Prague and give yourself a few hours to wander around the different buildings. Between the building is regular streets with food and shopping. You just need your ticket to get into the museum buildings. The only downside is I think the exhibits could be updated and more information provided or a little easier to read, with larger signage. Also only one bathroom in the whole complex! It was beside the silver exhibit.

I just went to the Pinkas Synagogue. Overall, it was informative and an eye-opener! The reason I'm giving the Jewish Museum only 3 stars is because it's lousy with signs. After I walked into the Pinkas, there was no sign that said the museum was on the left and the cemetery was on the right. Anyway, I followed a crowd of people and went right because I figured they knew what they were doing thereby missing the museum completely! After I finished seeing the cemetery, I asked the guard where was the museum. He said it was at the beginning of the tour. There are other examples of bad signs, such as where you buy tickets, where the only restroom is, etc. But I can't completely blame the Jewish Museum. It was my experience that Prague is lousy with signs in other languages besides Czech. (It took me forever to find the Franz Kafka Museum!) And the map you get from the Information Office has street signs that do NOT match the actual street signs! I loved Prague but they have to do a better job providing information for tourists. Or maybe they want to confuse us so we go on one of their tours. This is probably why locals are frustrated when you ask them for directions.