The High Synagogue in Prague

Alongside the Jewish Town Hall, the High Synagogue dominates Červená St. in the historic centre of Prague. The synagogue served as a private prayer hall for Jewish councillors, while the Jewish council of elders, and probably the rabbinical court, also met there.

The synagogue, completed in 1568, was built by the Italian Pankratius Roder and local masons led by the master Rada. The entrance to the synagogue was upstairs in the adjoining Jewish Town Hall, an unusual location which probably inspired the name. However, it probably also refers to its exceptional position. The hall is lit by high windows, creating an unusually secular impression. The High Synagogue boasts the best preserved interior of all of the Jewish Quarter’s Renaissance synagogues. From 1950 it served as an exhibition space for the Jewish Museum before being revived in 1995, since when it has been used for weddings and as the prayer hall of the rabbinate.