Jewish Museum in Prague Museum

Address: U Staré školy 1, 110 00 Josefov, Prague 1, Czech Republic

Website: https://www.jewishmuseum.cz

The Jewish Museum in Prague is a network of historic synagogues, a ceremonial hall and the Old Jewish Cemetery in the Josefov quarter that together conserve Jewish heritage from Bohemia and Moravia. The institution was established in the early 20th century to protect and display ritual objects, archives and historic buildings.

The Pinkas Synagogue, converted into a Holocaust memorial with the names of victims inscribed on the walls; the Spanish Synagogue with its richly decorated interior; the Maisel and Klausen synagogues with historical exhibitions; and the Old Jewish Cemetery with layered medieval and early modern gravestones. Exhibition displays cover religious objects, manuscripts, folk art and community history across these sites.

The Jewish Museum originated in 1906 to collect and protect Jewish cultural property and its sites have been adapted over the 20th century to serve both exhibition and memorial functions. The Pinkas Synagogue was repurposed after World War II as a central memorial site documenting victims from the historic Czech lands.

All museum sites are located in Josefov, Prague’s historic Jewish Quarter adjacent to Old Town Square, a short walk from the centre of Prague.

• Holocaust memorial: The Pinkas Synagogue’s interior lists tens of thousands of names of Jews from Bohemia and Moravia killed during the Holocaust and functions as a central memorial.
• Combined ticket: The museum is distributed across several historic sites in Prague’s Josefov quarter, so buy a combined ticket to visit multiple synagogues and the cemetery.

What to See#

• Pinkas Synagogue: Pinkas Synagogue - serves as the Holocaust memorial with walls inscribed with the names of Jewish victims from Bohemia and Moravia.
• Old Jewish Cemetery: Old Jewish Cemetery - contains layers of tombstones and gravemarkers dating from the late medieval and early modern periods, among the oldest in Europe.
• Spanish Synagogue: Spanish Synagogue - a 19th-century building with richly decorated Moorish Revival interior that houses exhibition space for Jewish art and history.

The Jewish Museum in Prague is in the Josefov (Old Jewish Quarter) near the Old Town. A convenient option is Prague Metro Line A to Staroměstská station (then a 5-10 minute walk to the museum) or take central trams that stop at Staroměstská. The site is within easy walking distance from Old Town Square.

• Buy a timed‑entry ticket online for the Jewish Museum complex (Josefov) to skip long lines and to ensure access to multiple sites - a single ticket covers several synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery.
• Visit early in the day or later in the afternoon to avoid large tour groups that arrive mid‑day from river cruises; quieter times allow more contemplative viewing of the cemetery and memorial exhibits.
• Observe photography and behavior guidelines inside the memorial spaces; many visitors miss the small, specialist exhibits upstairs that provide important historical context unless they follow the full circuit.