Altprager Tours

29/07/2025

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/king-christian-x-of-denmark

Did King Christian X of Denmark wear a yellow star in support of the Danish Jews? Read more about the historical truth behind the legend.

20/12/2024

The deepest Mikveh in Ashkenaz
Friedberg is a small town in central Germany, located about 30km north of Frankfurt. The town was founded late in the course of German urbanization, in 1216. Subsequently, Friedberg’s Jewish community was established in the early 13th century, when other Ashkenazi communities were already well established and had a strong community tradition. By 1260 the young community had its own synagogue, mikveh (it survived to these days and is the deepest Mikveh in Germany, with seventy tw steps leading down to the aquifer’s water), school, cemetery and hospital. The Jews of Friedberg were mostly merchants, dealing in cattle, jewelry, and clothing. Some were money managers and lenders. The Jewish quarter was near the town fortress and relied on its protection. This proved to be ill-advised when the Jews were massacred during the “Armleder” pogrom in 1336, and later during the black plague of 1349. The local authorities confiscated the property of the murder victims.
In the aftermath of the 14th century pogroms, only very wealthy Jews were allowed to resettle in Friedberg. A wealthy Jewish physician living in Freidberg, named Kalman, is documented in 1483. The community was managed by seven elected volunteers. With the decline of the market town of Freidberg, which lost in its competition with Frankfurt, only 14 families remained in the town by 1540, and its community was under the religious jurisdiction of Upper Hessen. Towards the end of the 16th century the community was led by Rabbi Chaim ben Bezalel, brother of the Maharal of Prague, who founded a Yeshiva in Friedberg. In 1603, Rabbi Shmuel ben Eliezer of Friedberg was the leader of the Rabbinical conference of the rabbis of Hessen.
The community grew to 70 families by 1618. The Jews became the majority among the town’s inhabitants in the aftermath of the thirty years war (1618-48). A census of 1788 finds 468 Jews in the town, about 20% of the total population. During the 19th century the Jews were allowed to reside outside their quarter. Many of the Jews form the surrounding villages moved into the town. Migrants form eastern Europe (Russia, Poland and Hungary) arrived and the community grew. 15 Jews of Friedberg were killed while serving in the German army during the first world war.
When the N***s were elected to power in Germany in 1933 there were little over 400 Jews residing in Friedberg. Over 100 of them were murdered during the Holocaust.
The picture shows the Friedberg mikveh, built 1260, and the stairs descending into it.

11/12/2024

Stará kolkovna v Dlouhé třídě. Sídlila zde slavná noční kavárna U Lojzíčka, jejíž majitel Alois Florián se v prosinci 1901 zastřelil (po asanaci okolí přišel o hosty a upadl do dluhů). V červenci 1870 se tu narodil v rodině krejčího secesní malíř Emil Orlik. Stará kolkovna byla jako jeden z nejcennějších objektů na asanovaných okrscích přes protesty veřejnosti v roce 1904 zbořena.

10/12/2024

Magic from Prague💫💫💫
by 📸 .fab

10/12/2024

Karel Schwarzenberg - 10.12.1937*
The legend lives on!

10/12/2024

𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗮 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘀𝘇𝘁𝗮𝗷𝗻 is a famous bakery in Paris located in the historic Jewish Quarter, Le Marais. The shop is bright yellow, so it’s hard to miss! Inside, you’ll find delicious Eastern European pastries, breads, and cakes, like challah, cheesecake, and poppy seed rolls. It’s known for its authentic Jewish recipes that have been passed down for generations. Whether you’re craving something sweet or savory, this bakery is a little slice of tradition in the heart of Paris.

09/12/2024

In a survey that attempted to be representative, 44.9% percent of the Israeli Jewish sample identified as either Mizrahi or Sephardi, 44.2% as Ashkenazi or Russian Jews, about 3% as Beta Israel and 7.9% as mixed or other.

09/12/2024

A Jewish family in Damascus, pictured in their ancient Damascene home, in Ottoman Syria, 1901.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Jews

09/12/2024

09/12/2024

Lorenzo da Ponte’s Jewish origins were largely unknown until the Holocaust, and in recent years, they’re taken for granted, per a new journal article.

09/12/2024

09/12/2024

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/before-its-destruction-jobar-synagogue-in-syria-2

A Jewish cemetery in Sudan. A network of ancient Jewish fortresses in Saudi Arabia. A Beirut synagogue restored with the endorsement of Hezbollah. A former synagogue, built in a gothic architectural style, now used as a mosque in Northwest Algeria. Iraqi Kurdistan, where thousands of Jews once made....