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Jewish Town Hall (Židovská radnice)
Maiselova 18 Praha 1 - Staré Město http://www.praguewelcome.cz/srv/www/en/objects/detail.x?id=48561About
Jewish Town Hall | In 1748, the expelled Jews could finally return to Prague. During the reign of Joseph II, many barriers fell between the Jewish citizens and other citizens of Prague, and in 1850, Josefov became the fifth district of Prague. It was named after Joseph II. Long-term persecution of the Jews was reflected in the cramped and non-hygienic development of Josefov, which was demolished during extensive building sanitation realized on the basis of the sanitation law from 1893. Jewish Town Hall is one of the few Jewish monuments which were spared during the subsequent demolitions in the sanitation at the beginning of the 20th century. When building their town, the Jews paid great attention to synagogues, which were not only used as sacral and spiritual centres, but also served the purposes of administrative, judicial centres, and last but not least, they were also used as schools. Citizen houses were not so important, because the ruler considered them as his own property, and he could dispose of them freely. In 1567, the ghetto was hit by a great fire. In the same year, Emperor Maxmilian II, a relatively liberal ruler, issued a royalty to the Jews, so that they would no longer be expelled from the town or from the country. Also the era of Rudolf II was more positive for the Jews, as the Emperor borrowed money from them. Mordechai Maisel, the primas of the Jewish community in the Rudolfinian Prague, was probably the richest man of his time, as he was lending money to the entire imperial court, and with his money he bought privileges for himself and other Prague Jews. Apart from the later Maisel Synagogue, he also built the Maisel Town Hall, and in 1577 the Renaissance High Synagogue, which was originally a part of the Jewish Town Hall, and was thus also called the Council Synagogue. Maisel Town Hall was built at the end of the 16th century by a builder Panacius Roder. It was rebuilt in late-Baroque style in 1763 by architect Josef Schlesinger. In 1908, its Southern wing was extended by a builder Matěj Blecha. The Town Hall is a corner two-storied building with a mansard roof. The oldest part of the building is represented by a square ground-plan area in the Northern part of today’s basement, originally vaulted by a ribbed cross vault.Backwards clock - on the roof of the town hall, there is a wooden turret with a clock with Hebrew numerals on the face, the hands of which move in the opposite direction.
