After the Holocaust, the Jewish places of worship in Europe that survived the repression can almost be counted on the fingers of one hand. The Jewish Town Hall in the Josefov district is one of them.
Its building was constructed in 1568 by the architect Pankras Roder with the financial support of the patron Mordechai Maisel. A hundred years later, it was decided to reconstruct the town hall, as a result of which the building underwent a Baroque transformation. However, this was not the last architectural change either - at the end of the 18th century, the town hall was transformed in the Rococo style. One should not think that all these modifications were made to the building out of a desire to make it more 'fashionable'. Not at all - the reconstructions were necessary in order to restore the Jewish Town Hall after fires and looting.
A true symbol of both this building and the entire Josefov quarter is the clock located on the town hall tower. As you will notice, it has two dials - the familiar one with Roman numerals and a Jewish one, on which time seems to run backward. For many years now, this clock has served as the embodiment of two different cultures and a sign of solidarity between them.
