Synagogue and rabbi’s house in Úštěk

The town of Úštěk is located on the northeastern edge of the Český Středohoří. The oldest mention of it dates back to 1057. A number of remarkable late-Gothic gabled burgher houses from the 15th and early 16th centuries with partially preserved porches have been preserved on the square.

The interesting tower-like structure of the synagogue offers an exposition of a traditional Jewish school. The interior is decorated with Moorish motifs .

According to tradition, Jews lived in Úštěk as early as 1327, but only in the 16th century did a small Jewish enclave with one street and eight houses emerge – the number of houses and permitted families was fixed and remained unchanged until the middle of the 19th century. After the patent of tolerance was issued in 1781, the Jews of Úštěch first built a wooden synagogue, which burned down in 1793. In 1794, a new classicist synagogue was built in its placefrom sandstone blocks and gradually modified it to its present form. It was founded on a high plinth made of sandstone blocks right on the edge of the rock promontory and is thus very visible from a distance.

The basement spaces were used by the Jewish school , the entrance to the synagogue led from the city from Židovská ulička , where there was also an external wooden staircase to the women’s gallery. The prayer hall was painted with Moorish motifs . She survived the Second World War without much damage. It is an interesting tower-like building. In the basement there is an exhibition of a traditional Jewish school and a cantor’s apartment from the 19th century.

Exposition of Jewish Education

The exhibition ” Jewish Education ” shows the roots and basic ideas of Jewish education from biblical and Talmudic times , through the forms of teaching customary in Jewish schools (cheders) in the Middle Ages , to the diverse forms of Jewish education in the environment of Ashkenazi Jewish communities (especially in Bohemia and Moravia), to the establishment of so-called normal Jewish schools in larger Jewish communities from the end of the 18th century , the separate teaching of religion in public schools and the building of modern Jewish schools in the 20th century and today . Separate Jewish education in Czechoslovakia between the world wars and the illegal education of children inthe Terezin ghetto . The final part of the exhibition is dedicated to the restoration of Jewish education in Prague after 1990.

Venue

Synagogue and rabbi’s house in Úštěk

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