The Storied Town Of Jičín

Jičín is one of Bohemia’s most fascinating historic towns. It began as a relatively unimportant market settlement during the Thirty Years War. Later on it grew into a major economic, political and cultural center of the kingdom, the capital of the Duchy of Friedland.

Albrecht Wallenstein

The Bohemian warlord Albrecht of Wallenstein had his seat there and his tolerant reign led to a tremendous boom of the Jewish community under the leadership of Yaakov Bashevi von Treuenburg. A significant portion of the town still includes the former Jewish ghetto with a Jewish street, the Jičín Synagogue and Jewish school, as well as a dozen Jewish houses.

The earliest records of Jewish settlement in Jičín date back to the 14th century. In 1362, there was a mention of a Židovská (“Jewish”) Street. Other reports from the 14th and 15th centuries show that the local Jews owned buildings in various parts of town and could freely buy and sell them. Apparently by the early 16th century, the Jewish settlement was centered on today’s Židovská Street. During the expulsion of the Jews from Bohemia in the middle of the 15th century, all of Jičín’s Jews were forced to leave the town.

Jičín’s Jewish community was re-established under Albrecht of Wallenstein. The community’s guardian and protector was the duke’s financier Jacob Bashevi von Treuenberg (1570 Verona – 1634 Mladá Boleslav). He was the former head of the Jewish community in Prague and the court Jew of emperors Rudolf II, Matthias and Ferdinand II, who spent last years of his life in Jičín.

In 1651, the community purchased a property in Valtice for its cemetery. In 1738, Jičín was home to 14 Jewish families, which grew to 22 Jewish families (119 individuals) in 1793. Besides trade and finance, the community’s members included a scribe, a singer, a tobacco storehouse owner, a physician, a butcher, a servant, a synagogue attendant, a toll collector, and a tailor.

Jičín Wallenstein's Square

Following emancipation in the middle of the 19th century, the number of Jews in town slowly began to decline. In 1880, Jičín was still home to 358 persons of the Jewish faith. On 13 January 1943, more than 100 Jewish residents of Jičín and the surrounding towns and villages were deported to Terezín. Of this number, 77 died in Auschwitz and other extermination camps. The local Jewish community was never re-established.

The Jičín Synagogue 

The Jičín synagogue was completed in 1773. The great fire of 23 June 1840 burnt the synagogue’s roof. Afterwards, the synagogue’s gables, roof trusses and roof were repaired. A stairway was built to the women’s gallery, an Empire-style portico was erected in front of the men’s entrance, and the interior was decorated with neo-classical wall paintings. Work was completed by the High Holidays in September 1840.

Jičín synagogue

The houses on Židovská Street were renovated and numbered I to IX. The synagogue is a small, late baroque building with a high gabled roof. Inside are a vaulted ceiling with three pairs of lunettes, three tall semi-circular vaulted windows along the lateral walls and two on the gable walls. The pilasters on the facade are topped by an architrave and a cornice.
The high baroque Aron Kodesh was allegedly taken from the church at the Jesuit College after its dissolution in 1773. The neo-classical wall decoration was restored during the synagogue’s renovation by the Jewish Community in Prague in 2001–2008. The modern Empire-style school was built as a rental building according to plans by local builder Josef Opolzer with a stylish façade, two portals, and an Empire-style stairway.

Jewish street Jičín

The local Jewish community purchased the building in 1872 and used the ground floor as a classroom, a winter prayer room, and a meeting room. In 1938, it was transferred to the town of Jičín, which sold the building to the Federation of Jewish Communities in 2006 for a symbolic price. As part of the “Revitalization of Jewish Monuments” project, the Federation renovated the building in 2010–2014 and installed an exhibition on Jewish authors who had been active in the Czech lands.

Jičín is just one of the many gems of Jewish heritage in the Czech Republic. Should you wish to visit this beautiful town and many more, you can always join a Europe kosher tour and learn about the Jewish history in Europe!