Jubilee Synagogue
Built in 1906 on Jerusalem Street, this is Prague’s largest synagogue, its striped Moorish facade concealing an Art Nouveau interior of remarkable color.
At a glance
Wilhelm Stiassny designed the Jubilee Synagogue in a hybridized Moorish Revival and Art Nouveau idiom. Alois Richter built it in Prague’s Nové Město district. Since the destruction of the Vinohrady Synagogue in 1951, it has stood as the largest synagogue in the city, though not in the country.
History
The building replaced three older synagogues, the Zigeiner, the Velkodvorská and the New, all demolished between 1898 and 1906 during a sweeping urban renewal of the former Jewish quarter. Its original name honored the golden jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph I’s reign, marked in 1898. After Czechoslovak independence in 1918, the name changed. Jerusalem Synagogue felt less tied to a defeated monarchy. During the Nazi occupation, the space held only confiscated Jewish property, silent for years. It later returned to worship. The World Monuments Fund supported restoration work between 1992 and 2010.
What you see
Horseshoe arches trace the three-bay facade in alternating red and white stone, a Mudéjar rhythm borrowed freely from Iberian precedent. Inside, columns rise to support women’s galleries, their Moorish forms overlaid with brilliantly painted Art Nouveau patterning. An organ and choir loft recall the building’s origins as a Reform congregation. Above the entrance, a Hebrew inscription promises that the righteous shall enter through this gate. The synagogue also preserves inscribed plaques rescued from the demolished Zigeuner Synagogue, fragments of a vanished neighborhood set into a new one.
Cultural significance
Though raised for a Reform congregation, the synagogue today serves Prague’s more traditional Jewish community, aligned officially with Orthodox Judaism. It remains notably less stringent than the city’s other functioning synagogue, the medieval Old New Synagogue. Its layered history, imperial jubilee, wartime confiscation, postwar survival, mirrors the broader story of Jewish life in Bohemia. Careful restoration has kept both structure and memory intact.
Key facts
- Location: Jerusalem Street, Nové Město, Prague
- Architect: Wilhelm Stiassny; built by Alois Richter
- Completed: 1906
- Style: Moorish Revival with Art Nouveau decoration
- Status: Active Orthodox synagogue, heritage-listed
- Restoration: Supported by the World Monuments Fund, 1992–2010
Practical information & getting there
The synagogue sits centrally in Prague 1, an easy walk from the main train station. Since April 2008 it has opened regularly to visitors, not only worshippers. Check the community’s official channels before visiting, as opening hours and services vary. Modest dress is expected, as at any active synagogue.
Sources & resources
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