The horror and disgrace of Prague. The unique Jewish city had to give way to progress and modernization
Fifth Quarter. The Jewish ghetto was not told otherwise. Today, they were looking for this non-existent part of the Old Town under the name Josefov. We would find very little of the original appearance of this specific part of the city. Why did the radical redevelopment come and how was the “Fifth Quarter” so fundamentally different from the others?
Living memories
Ignát Herrmann in his book Lost Prague he wrote about this very specific place that absolutely anything could be found here. From the provision of hands to antique furniture. It was enough to remember any trifle, and in the Jewish ghetto, there must have been someone who pulled a thorn out of your heel.
Small houses, an old synagogue, poor hygiene, dirt and many people. The writers’ recollections are rather nostalgic, but the fact remains that in the gradual modernization of the city, the Jewish ghetto faced an inevitable transformation.
The technical condition of the houses was on the verge of sustainability and people lived here in really unsatisfactory hygienic conditions. The gradual emancipation of the Jewish community meant that more poor and infamous merchants moved to the Fifth Quarter, and the Jews themselves were already looking for a new place for decent housing.
Local prostitution was bold here, and nightlife was an understandable inspiration for writers such as Neruda and Kisch. Legendary pubs and dance halls operated here until the early hours.
In the 1980s the councilors of Prague were thus openly aware that this district in the very center of the city was a disgrace rather than a pride. When the proposal to completely demolish the Jewish ghetto came, several critics emerged who wanted to preserve this unique part of the city. What is left of the original “Fifth Quarter”?
Jewish town is richly documented through the lens of the important Czech photographer Jindřich Eckert, who lent the Municipal Museum 500 photographs taken during the twenty years of its creation and added another 40 from 1894-1898.
Cemetery and synagogue
The Jewish town has been associated with this place since the Middle Ages. We would find the first mention of settlement as early as 1096, when the district was founded after the pogrom.
Gradually, due to the segregation of the Jews, this part of the city turned into a ghetto. This part of the city maintained its existence even after the brutal pogrom, which became known as Bloody Easter. This happened in 1389 and most of the inhabitants of the Jewish town were murdered. The Jews had to continue to experience difficult times. Only during the reign of Rudolf II. can be called about ceasefire.
He was in charge of the services of the court Jew Mordechai Maisel, who was responsible for financing the use of important buildings, such as the Jewish town hall, the High Synagogue and, of course, the Maisel Synagogue.
Also in the following years, the local population had to deal with various types of regulations, deportations or fatal fires. Only during the reign of Joseph II. the Jewish population began to be equalized and they could gradually expand to other parts of the city than just living in the territory of a defined ghetto.
In 1848, the ghetto was completely abolished two years later and this part of the town was renamed Josefov. Wealthy Jews were looking for a different place to live, and as mentioned, an increasingly poor Jewish-free poor moved to the “Fifth Quarter.”
However, winding medieval alleys with extraordinary charm awaited liquidation called “remediation”. Only the town hall, the cemetery and six synagogues have been preserved from the original ghetto. Old-New, Pinkas, Klaus, Maisel, Spanish and High Synagogues, which adjoins the local town hall.
Modernization of the city
One of the main arguments for the total destruction of the Jewish town was unsatisfactory hygienic conditions. However, whether it was only a screen for the city to expand into a more modern form is still a dispute among historians.
The fact remains, however, that there is really little left of the “Fifth Quarter”. Most of the sources, which recall the existence of a completely unique urban-architectural area in the Old Town, can be seen from photographs and several books, which enthusiastically and nostalgically address the very specific environment of this place.
This created several wide boulevards, rich apartment buildings along the lines of Vienna and Paris. Several other cities in Europe have experienced a similar process. The complicated transformation in the very heart of the city began after 1895 and was expected to be completed until 1913.
Today, perhaps the most inaccurate form is shown in the famous Langweil model of Prague from the 19th century. You can wander the winding streets of the “Fifth Quarter” on the pages of books signed by Ignát Herrmann, Jan Neruda or Egon Erwin Kisch.
Source: Unknown Prague, Prague Quarter, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, book Lost Prague
WHERE NOW: Romantic winter on the Vltava. The people of Prague skated out of one shore to the other