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2017-08-26 - MIKULOV - Jewish quarter and Synagogue

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MIKULOV – JEWISH QUARTER AND SYNAGOGUE

The first written record of the presence of Jews in Mikulov dates back to 1369. The local Jewish community kept growing until it was the largest in Moravia – in the mid-19th century it comprised 620 systemized families of 3,700 individuals, i.e. 39% of the then city’s population. In the past, Mikulov represented the spiritual, cultural and political centre of Moravian Jews. From the mid-16th century to 1851 Mikulov was the residential city of the Moravian landesrabbiner. This rabbinical position was successively held by Jehuda Löw ben Becalel, widely known as Maharal (c. 1525–1609), Menachem Mendel Krochmal (1600–1661), David Oppenheimer (1664–1736), Shmuel Shmelke Horowitz (1726–1778) and Mordecai Benet (1753–1829). The local yeshiva enjoyed outstanding reputation all around Europe. The Museum of Jewish culture in Moravia and Silesia resided in Mikulov in 1935–1938. The Jewish Community of Mikulov was restored after the end of WWII for a short period of time.

The Jewish quarter is an extensive 33-acre area situated at the western side of the Zámecký Hill, its streets nowadays called Husova, Zámecká, Alfonse Muchy, U staré brány and Na jámě. Out of the initial 317 houses 90 have been left after demolitions, including the following buildings of former Jewish institutions: two Jewish schools at No. 4 and No. 48 Husova Street, an old people's home at 52 Husova Street and a cistern for the ritual bath in the basement of the house at 8 Husova Street. Some of the buildings, still with the renaissance and baroque disposition, feature interesting architectonic details, such as corner archways. Since 2000, all the attractive sights have been presented as part of an educational trail winding through the Jewish quarter.

The Upper Synagogue at 13 Husova Street, built in 1550, was expanded in 1689. After the fire the synagogue received a new baroque design in 1719–1723 (perhaps with the contribution of the magistrate architect Christian Alexandrer Oedtl), in which the four cupolas vault together to form a four-column pillar in the middle of the hall, a rostrum – almemor. The synagogue is the last preserved temple of the Polish or Lvov design in the Czech Republic. After having been completely restored in 1977–1989, the Upper Synagogue nowadays serves the town’s cultural needs, holding an exposition covering the history of the local Jewish community and featuring the preserved relics. On its front wall a memorial plaque to the victims of the Holocaust was mounted and unveiled in 1995.

Out of the initial 12 Jewish Houses of God the mass of the former Michlštetrov Synagogue from 1697 (initially situated in the courtyard of the house at 52 Husova Street, nowadays a part of the Templ Hotel) and a torso of the Ashkenazy Synagogue from 1675 (in the courtyard of the houses at the No. 18–20 Alfonse Muchy Street) have been preserved; the other synagogues were closed down and dismounted in the recent 150 years.

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