By Samuel D. Gruber and Carol Herselle Krinsky with Diane Wolfthal
Description
The free-standing Altneushul (or Old-New Synagogue) in Prague is 15 x 9 m., divided lengthwise into two naves by two octagonal piers, and surrounded by annexes that abut the main hall and appear to have been added in later building phases—a characteristic subsequently typical of many synagogues throughout Central Europe.
The earliest addition to the structure is the vestibule on the south side that contains the entrance. Recent excavations have revealed 25 cm. under the existing stone pavement of the entrance hall (the result of the restorations of 1883, 1926, and 1967) a nearly complete original floor made of large limestone slabs. The original stone slabs of the wall foundations were also uncovered. Beneath the stone floor was a layer of plaster and small stones that appears to date from the construction phase of the main hall. Below this was an older and deeper layer of small river stones, perhaps some form of paved walkway that preexisted the present building. If the stratum of plaster and small stones does demarcate the construction area of the main hall, the find refutes the hypothesis that the south annex may, in fact, be the adaptation of an early- or mid-13th-century synagogue building on the site—predating the Altneushul.
Significance
The building is the most intact of all medieval synagogues, and because it had remained continuously in use, it is also widely recognized as a symbol of the antiquity and continuity of the Jewish presence in Prague – and by extension – the entire region. Because of its fame, the building is also the locus of many legends, including that of the Golem (a frightening effigy brought to life, which protected the Jews of Prague), and this is featured widely in literature and art. Today, along with other buildings in the former Jewish quarter and the Old Jewish Cemetery, it is among the most visited sites in the Czech Republic and may be the most visited Jewish historic and architectural site in the diaspora world.
Because its medieval fabric remains essentially intact, we know less of the later building history of the synagogue. The construction of the double-nave Gothic building dates to the late 13th century. It is typical of the medieval double-nave plan type of synagogue, known from Worms, Regensburg and elsewhere. The building was subsequently damaged in the pogrom of 1389. The Ark, with its classical columns supported on volute brackets, dates to the 16th century.
The synagogue’s current appearance dates to a restoration of 1716. It was repaired again in 1883, when the architect Joseph Mocker remodeled it. A more complete restoration was carried out by the State Bureau for the Care of Historical Monuments from 1921 to 1926, mostly involving re-plastering and examining the structure. The last interior renovation was made in 1966–1967. Since the mid-nineteenth century the synagogue has been a favorite subject of painters and photographers.
The bimah (the platform from which the Torah is read) is set between the piers; its wrought iron enclosure with pointed arches presumably dates to the 15th century. The old, beautifully carved Gothic gable that was part of the original Ark has been fitted into the modern one. The synagogue is surrounded by a number of low annexes added throughout its history. Richard Krautheimer dated the main hall to the early 14th century. Zdenka Muenzer and others date the synagogue to the 13th century, sometime after 1254 when King Premysl Ottakar II issued privileges to the Jews of Prague.
New excavations at the Altneushul were carried out in 1998 under the direction of Zdenek Dragoun, chief of the Archaeological Department of the Prague Center of the Bureau of Monument Care. Most of the excavation work took place in the southern and northern annexes, that is, in the entrance hall and in the women’s section on the north side of the building that is believed to date from 1742. The excavations of the west part of the entrance hall suggest that the south and west annexes of the building were constructed separately and only much later joined at the corner. If this clearly demonstrates that the southwest corner is later than the south annex, then another argument is removed for the earlier dating and use of the entrance annex (that it is inexplicably longer than the main hall). This excavation also revealed the south foundations of the main structure, extending at least one meter deep beneath the ground level and made of squared stones. Strong underground buttresses were placed at the corners of the main building. The ground beneath the main sanctuary had been disturbed so much throughout the building’s long history and during its many restorations that there was little to find in that area.
Further Reading
Gruber, Samuel. “Archaeological Remains of Ashkenazic Jewry in Europe: A New Source of Pride and History.” In What Athens has to do with Jerusalem: Essays on classical, Jewish, and Early Christian Art and Archaeology in Honor of Gideon Foerster, edited by Leonard Rutgers, 267–301. Paris-Louvain – Dudley MA: Peters, 2002.
Krinsky, Carol Herselle. Synagogues of Europe. Boston: The Architectural History Foundation and the MIT Press, 1985.
Pařik, Arno, Dana Cabanova, and Pets Kliment. Prague Synagogues. Prague: Jewish Museum of Prague, 2000.
Paulus, Simon. Die Architektur der Synagoge im Mittelalter: Überlieferung und Bestand. Petersburg: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2007.
Vilimkova, Milada. “Seven Hundred Years of the Old-New Synagogue.” Judaica Bohemiae 5, no. 1 (1969): 72–83.
