Travels with Craig and Jeri: Danube Cycling Day 5

Day 5: Depart Berlin for Prague

This morning started at 4:30. Iwona and Lothar are amazing hosts. They, too, were up with a full breakfast ready and on the table for us at 5. That included scrambled eggs, fresh squeezed OJ and croissants. We have upped their B&B rating to 6-stars.

After many hugs, we said aufwiedersehen to our family (Katherina wisely said goodbye the night before)

and we were off to the train station.

Sad goodbyes to our new family (unsure neue Familie)

At the station, we easily found out from what gate our train departed, but all the elevators were out of service. Getting down escalators with the bike case and 2 large duffels was quite a feat.

The German trains really are punctual. We departed and arrived on the scheduled minute. The train was very comfortable and waiters came through for taking orders for food and drinks. Very civilized.

Our hotel in Prague was about a 10-minute (or 15 Euro) taxi ride. We had to find one large enough for all the luggage. Fortunately, we were able to get into our room early and dump our bags before we had to get to the “Old City” to meet our guide for the afternoon tour of the Jewish Quarter.

Hauptbahnhof in Berlin

On the train to Prague

Arrival in Prague

The hotel concierge gave us a map and directions and off we went to explore Prague. We hadn’t eaten since 5 am breakfast, so we stopped at a bakery for a baguette and strudel which we ate on the run. We seemed to have plenty of time, but after I decided to take a shortcut and got stuck in a rabbit warren of tiny curvy streets, we just made it to our designated meeting spot, a statue of Franz Kafka, in time.

Prague Panorama

Water Sorbing

Our guide, Luba Poleva, briefed us while we finished our strudel. At this point, I want to thank Rich and Suzie Rothstein for recommending Luba. An amazing amount of information in her head that she was able to clearly and distinctly transmit this information to us. The Jewish museum is a group of old synagogues and graveyards that have been preserved in the old Jewish Quarter of Prague. Documentary evidence reveals that Jews have lived in Prague since 970 C.E. By the end of the 11^th century, a Jewish community had been fully established.

In 1179, the church announced that Christians should avoid touching Jews. In this period, civil rights granted to Jews were severely limited and they were forced to build their community on the right bank of the Vltava, close to Staromestske Namesti, the Old Town Square. This limited their movements and identified them as a minority group. This was the origin of the Jewish ghetto. By day movement was free, but in the evening and on festivals the gates of the ghetto were locked.

During the reign of Maximilian (1564-1576) and Rudolf II (1576-1612), there was a golden age for Jewry in Prague. Rudolph was considered a weak leader and was indifferent to the Catholic Counter-Reformation in the Hapsburg Empire. This allowed a large number of scientists and intellectuals to assemble in Prague and speak and practice without impediments from the church. Economic freedom was given to the Jews and a flowering of Jewish culture occurred.

One of the famous Jewish scholars and educators of the time was Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525-1609), also known as the Maharal. Rabbi Loew published more than 50 religious and philosophical books and became the center of legends, as the mystical miracle worker who created the Golem. The Golem is an artificial man made of clay that was brought to life through magic and acted as a guardian over the Jews. The Maharal had positive relations with Rudolph II and was even invited to his castle. About 7,000 Jews lived in Prague during the time of Rabbi Loew.

In the early 18^th century, more Jews lived in Prague than anywhere else in world. In 1708, Jews accounted for one-quarter of Prague’s population. Unfortunately, the golden age ended with the ascension of Empress Maria Theresa who expelled the Jews from Prague from 1745 to 1748.

The Jews returned to Prague, the gates of the ghetto were opened, and conditions improved during the reign of Emperor Joseph II (1780-90). Joseph II issued the Edict of Toleration in October 1781, which affirmed the notion of religious tolerance. He allowed Jews to participate in all forms of trade, commerce, agriculture and the arts. Jews were encouraged to build factories and school systems. Jews were even allowed to attend institutions of higher learning.

On March 14, 1939, Slovakia declared independence from Prague and signed the Treaty of Protection with Nazi Germany. The next day, Germany occupied Czech lands. At the outbreak of World War II, over 92,000 Jews lived in Prague, almost 20 percent of the city’s population. Prague was one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. At least two-thirds of the Jewish population of Prague perished in the Holocaust.

In the Czech Republic, about 26,000 members of the Czech Jewish community escaped and emigrated to various countries and regions, including Palestine, the United States, South America and Western Europe. Not all Czech Jews were so fortunate. Of the vast marority of Czech Jews were imprisoned in Terezin (going there tomorrow), 80 percent of those were deported to Auschwitz, Maidanek, Treblinka and Sobibor. Other Czech Jews were sent directly to death camps. Over 97,000 perished, of which were 15,000 Czech Jewish children. Only 132 of those children were known to have survived.

More than a quarter of a million Czechoslovak Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and more than 60 synagogues in the Czech lands were destroyed. The Jewish Quarter in Prague was spared by Hitler. Hitler was enamored with Prague and it is believed that he had planned to keep Prague as a sort of Disney World for future Germans. He wanted to preserve the Jewish Quarter to prove there were Jews that he eliminated. Also, nearly all of the contents of the synagogues were catalogued and stored and fortunately, returned to the Jewish community after the war. In addition, because there were no significant strategic targets in Prague, the Allies never bombed Prague (except one mistaken bombing), saving nearly all of the buildings in the entire city. Today, the Federation of Jewish Communities says about 3,000 to 5,000 people are registered members of the Jewish community in the Czech Republic, of which 1,600 live in Prague. Numbers are difficult to calculate due to decades of intermarriage and emigration. It is estimated that there are an additional 10,000 to 15,000 unregistered Jews living in the country.

Franz Kafka

Our first stop was the beautiful Spanish Synagogue just behind the statue (one of many here in Prague) of Franz Kafka (famous author (The Trial, Metamorphosis), son of religious Jews, although he became an atheist as an adult). The Spanish Synagogue has nothing to do with Spanish Jewry- there were no Sephardic Jews here; it was, in fact, built in 1868 over the site of the oldest synagogue in Prague that had been demolished a year before. The name comes from the Moorish Revival Style popular in that period.

It became 1^st a community center then a hospital for Jews during the early parts of WWII. Once Prague was emptied of Jews by the Nazis, all Jewish properties were stored here in the Spanish Synagogue. 10 years after the war, the building was returned to the Jewish community, but reconstruction wasn’t really begun until after the departure of Russian troops and a return to a democratic Czechoslovakia (“the Velvet Revolution”). Today, it is a beautiful, Reform, functioning synagogue.

Spanish Synagogue

Torah Crowns

Our next stop was the New Old Synagogue, originally called the New or Great Synagogue and later, when newer synagogues were built in the 16th century, it became known as the Old-New Synagogue. Another explanation derives the name from the Hebrew (al tnay), which means "on condition" and sounds identical to the Yiddish "alt-nay," or old-new. According to legend angels have brought stones from the Temple in Jerusalem to build the Synagogue in Prague—"on condition" that they are to be returned, when the Messiah comes, i.e., when the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt and the stones are needed. The synagogue was built in 1270 and is the oldest surviving twin –nave synagogue in the world. It continues to function as an Orthodox Synagogue, in fact, Luba’s father has a designated seat here.

The Golem, supposedly created by Rabbi Loewe, is said to live in the attic of this synagogue. Renovation in 1883 and exploration of the attic in August 2014 found no trace of a golem.

Old New Synagogue

Outside of the New Old Synagogue is an interesting clock tower with clock faces in both Arabic numerals and another in Hebrew. Of particular note is that the Hebrew clock runs counterclockwise (since Hebrew is read from right to left). Best to tell time using a mirror to reverse it.

Hebrew Clock Tower

At the end of “synagogue row” is the Chevrah Kadisha, or the burial society, where the dead were prepared for burial, and the adjacent cemetery.

Jeri and Luba in front of Hevrah Chadisha (Burial Society)

Jewish Cemetery

Head stones in the cemetery seem haphazardly placed. The dead, here, are buried in 12 layers, requiring multiple stones close to one another, and trees that have naturally grown here, have pushed the stones around with their roots. Rabbi Loew is buried here, and many very religious Jews make the pilgrimage to his grave. The graveyard was in continual use from the mid 15^th century through the end of the 18^th century

The Maisel Synagogue was built at the end of the 16th century which is considered to be the golden age of the ghetto. It takes the name of Mordechai Maisel, a wealthy business man with connections to the King. He was given a charter to build a personal synagogue (the king had decreed no more synagogues, but a private chapel was ok). Once built, though, he donated it to the community as a public synagogue.