Golden Prague, Jewish Sites

The Czech Republic’s capital is known locally as Golden Prague — and the city contains its share of Jewish gems.

While the city had a Jewish population of 92,000 before World War II, today only 1,500 Jews are registered as members of Prague’s Jewish community, with another estimated 5,000 living there.

Prague continues to attract a large number of Jewish expatriates from elsewhere and Jewish tourists, who explore such sites as the famed Alt Neu Shul, left, one of many venues tied to the 16th-century Maharal of Prague’s Golem figure, the eight-century-old Jewish cemetery and places associated with the life of writer Franz Kafka.

Though Prague has a negligible Orthodox community, it is home to two kosher restaurants.

A popular attraction for visitors in the Josefov section along the Moldau River is always the counter-clockwise clock with Hebrew letters atop the building, which houses the Jewish Community Federation of the Czech Republic.