Exhibition: Prague Jewish Museum "Baroque Synagogues"

Boskovice (Moravia), Czech Republic. Exhibition curator Arno Parik in restored synagogue.
Photo: Samuel Gruber (2004).

Exhibition: Jewish Museum in Prague Opens "Baroque Synagogues"

The Jewish Museum in Prague has opened the exhibition Barokní synagogy v českých zemích (Baroque synagogues in Czech Lands) curated by Arno Pařík about the. The exhibtion is at the Robert Guttmann Gallery (entrance around the corner from the Spanish Synagogue at U Staré školy 3) and will be on view until August 28th, 2011.

According to Dr. Pařík "the exhibition seeks to chart in more detail than ever before a group of lesser-known monuments that uniquely reflect the history and culture of the traditional Jewish communities in this country."

The exhibition presents a selection of the Czech Republic’s oldest synagogues, dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with particular focus on their plans, designs and decoration.
the exhibition also includes many ritual and decorative objects form the Museum collection, including a Star of David, a weather-vane, a stone alms box, a brass lavabo, and a wooden Decalogue (from Roudnice) and other items.

Jicin, Czech Republic. Restored synagogue ceiling. Photo: Samuel Gruber (2009)

Many synagogues of this period have been destroyed. In an interview published in the Museum Newsletter (2011/1) Pařík says that there were 261 synagogues from the period 1620 to 1780, but that only 63 survive. A large number were destroyed in the Holocaust. In recent years a few of the surviving buildings, such as the synagogues at Boskovice (Moravia) and Jicin (Bohemia) have been restored.

I have written about these before. The exhibition includes photograph little known buildings, and significant structures that have been virtually forgotten. Pictures of some of these buildings can be seen online. The splendid restored interiors of other Renaissance and Baroque Czech synagogues such as Kasejovice, Kolin, Holesov and Mikulov can be seen in panoramic views on the website www.synagogues360.org

According to the museum "The exhibition is intended mainly for specialists (Hebraists, Judaists, historians of art and architecture, preservationists and architects) and for members of the public (including school pupils and university students) who are interested in Jewish culture. Most of the people who see it, however, will be foreign visitors to the Jewish Museum. The show will give them an idea of the cultural wealth of the Jewish communities in the Czech Lands and of the effective care with which this heritage is now being maintained."

The museum will be publishing a leaflet with information about the exhibition in Czech and English, as well as a catalogue that focuses on selected synagogue buildings as part of the development of synagogue architecture in the Czech Lands.

The Unknown Michael Fingesten: Paintings, Prints and Ex Libris from the Ernst Deeken Collection

Publications: The Unknown Michael Fingesten: Paintings, Prints and Ex Libris from the Ernst Deeken Collection by Arno Parik

Jewish Museum of Prague, 2008 (ISBN 978-80-86889-71-9)

(ISJM) The Jewish Museum of Prague has published a catalog in conjunction with the exhibition of work of Michel Fingesten (1884–1943), which recently closed after several months at the Robert Guttmann Gallery. Fingesten was one of the best known graphic artists in pre-war Berlin, but until this exhibition and catalog, has been almost forgotten. He was born in Northern Moravia, began his art studies in Vienna in 1900, and then left for America where he traveled and made a living by drawing illustrations for newspapers. Fingesten returned to Europe in 1907 and studied with Franz Stuck in Munich. He then went to Asia, where he spent four years. In 1911 he was briefly in Paris, and later settled in Berlin, where achieved success. The Nazi’s labeled his work ‘degenerate art’ in 1933, and Fingesten left the country, moving to Milan, from where he was sent to the Civitella del Tronto internment camp in 1940, and was later interned in Ferramonti di Tarsia. Fingesten died of an infection in Cosenza on the 8th of October 1943, a few days after it was liberated by the British Army.

Exhibition curator Arno Pařík wrote the 36 page catalog, which features 100 color illustrations. The catalog, in Czech and English, can be ordered from the Museum website.

Restoration of Baroque Synagogue in Jičín (Czech Republic) complete

Restoration of Baroque Synagogue in Jičín (Czech Republic) complete.

By Samuel D. Gruber (ISJM)
(June 20. 2008)

Following nearly eight years (2001-2008) the restoration of the magnificent Baroque synagogue in Jičín, North Bohemia (Czech Republic) is complete. The Prague Jewish Community will officially open the building to the public on Thursday, June 19, 2008. The restoration project is part of a continuing effort by the Czech Jewish Community to reclaim, protect and preserver its historic, cultural and artistic heritage.

A Jewish settlement is known to have existed in Jičín in the second half of the 14th century, but Jews were expelled from the town in 1542-45 and again in 1557-63. The now-restored synagogue was erected in 1773, more than a century after Jews are known to have been readmitted to the town. According to Dr. Arno Pařík of the Prague Jewish Museum, "this is an exceptionally pure example of a small, late Baroque synagogue." It is a rectangular building, approximately 12.5 meters long and 8.2 meters wide, with a fairly high saddle roof over a barrel-vault, supported on traverse arches and 90 cm. thick walls. The sanctuary is well-lit by three tall arched windows on the south and north walls. Smaller windows are set in the west (façade) and east walls, the latter dominated by the well-preserved masonry Ark, flanked by twisted columns. The vivid wall paintings – mostly in reds and blues – have been restored to their 1840 appearance.

These photos taken in May 2008 near the end of restoration work are provided by Dr. Arno Pařík and the Jewish Museum of Prague. Additional photos of the restored building will be posted soon at www.isjm.org

The building is now one of best preserved late Baroque synagogues remaining in Central Europe.

The restoration of the synagogue was supervised by engineer Mojmír Malý at Matana a.s., Administration of Buildings and Cemeteries. Heritage supervision is provided by the Zecher Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Monuments through Dr. Arno Pařík, and the National Heritage Institute – specialist department in Pardubice. Financing has been provided by the Jewish Community of Prague, the Czech Ministry of Culture, the District Authority of Hradec Králové, and the Municipal Government of Jičín. Financial support for the synagogue renovation has also been provided by the Jewish Heritage Program and World Monuments Fund.

A Torah scroll from Jicin is now in the possession of Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, Massachusetts (USA).

For more on the history and architecture of the building see Arno Pařík, "History and Renovation of Jičín Synagogue," Judaica Bohemiae (40/2004), 104-122.