d) Jewish Sights

CITY EDUCATIONAL ROUTES
Important Figures of Jewish Origin
connected with Hranice
Hranice
Jewish
Sights
Jakob Julius David (1859–1906) – an Austrian journalist
and prose writer, a native of Hranice 
Norbert Falk (1870–1932) – born in Hranice as Isidor Kohn,
a German journalists, writer and screenwriter, co-author of
the screenplay for the film hit The Congress Dances (1931)
Redisch Hugo (1904–1943) – a native of Hranice, killed as a
hero in the Battle of Sokolov
Aaron Chorin (1766–1844) – a Jewish religious reformer,
rabbi in Arad, Romania, a native of Hranice
Isidor Singer (1859–1939) – German/American journalist,
who published the twelve-volume Jewish Encyclopedia
(1900–1909), a native of Hranice
Edith Stein (1891–1942) – a philoshopher, worked in Hranice as a nurse in 1915, later converted to catholic Christianity, killed in Oświęcim, canonized in 1998 
Miroslava Stern (1926–1955) – a famous Mexican actress,
she spent her childhood in Hranice with her adoptive
father Dr. Oskar Leo Stern 
Max Wolf (1840–1886) – a Viennese composer, born into a
family of entrepreneurs in Hranice



Za Krásami Městské památkové zóny Hranice
Město Hranice
www.hranicko.eu • +420 581 607 479 • www.mesto-hranice.cz
Město Hranice, 2010 • text: Jiří J. K. Nebeský • typo: www.tichy-typ.cz
foto: Milan Mráz, Jiří Necid, Městské muzeum a galerie v Hranicích
NEPRODEJNÉ
www.mesto-hranice.cz
Třída 1. m
áje
lice
u
ká
ovs
bor
Z
Náměstí
8. května
ulice
Jiráskova ulice
†
Synagogue (Janáček Street) A building in Moorish-By­
zantine style designed by Franz Macher in 1863 in the place
of the old synagogue from the 17th century. It was used for
Jewish religious service until 1940, from
1943 it accommodates the exhibits of
the municipal museum (now gallery).
The House number 728, opposite the
synagogue, was the seat of the Jewish
administration. The archway which ori­
ginally flanked the whole street is still
well preserved.
Šromotovo
náměstí
Čechova
Masarykovo
náměstí
†
í
Farn
Školní náměstí
e
ulic
Komenského ulice
Zámecká ulice
Jan
áčk
ov
au
lic
e
Pernštejnské
náměstí
Radniční ulice
From the 17th to the 20th century there was
a small Jewish community in Hranice
(Mährisch Weisskirchen). Its origins da­te
back to the second decade of the 17th century. In 1637 the local nobility confirmed
the administrative autonomy of the
Je­wish community (Reiniz), which consisted of seventeen burgher houses that later
formed Jewish (today Janáček) Street. At the end of the 18th
century there were 120 Jewish families in Hranice. The highest number of people of Jewish religion lived in the town
in 1857 (802 people), making up 13 % of all inhabitants. The
number of Jewish inhabitants at first decreased gradually
primarily because of mass migration towards bigger cities.
In the 1930s only two hundred Hranice residents described
themselves as being Jewish.
The Jewish political community was dissolved in 1919, but the
Jewish religious community remained. In the 1940s most of
the Jewish community members were killed
in Nazi concentration camps. In total
216 people of Jewish origin, of whom
197 reported to be of Jewish religion,
died. The synagogue congregation
survived the war but finally ceased to
exist in 1975.
From the beginning of the 19th century the old houses of
the Jewish (today Janáček) Street were replaced by modern
constructions and so the only visible memories of the
Jewish community remain the Jewish town hall with the
synagogue and the Jewish cemetery.
Skalní
ulice
††
†
Praha
Olomouc
Hranice
Jewish Cemetery (Zborovská ulice) The burial ground of
the Hranice Jewish community was established in the 1730s.
The oldest preserved tombstone dates back to 5445 (1684/1685
under the Christian calendar). In 1989 the greater part of
the cemetery was destroyed, and in 1994 it was reopened in a
reconstructed form. In addition to a number of people who
had an important role in the history of Hranice, there is also
the tombstone of Oskar Kafka (1884–
1901), a cousin of Franz Kafka, the fa­
mous writer. There are also records of
the funeral of Julius Freud († 1858), a
younger brother of Sigmund Freud, the
founder of psychoanalysis.