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This project seeks to reconstruct the Jewish population of Prague in the late 18th and 19th centuries. In the public tree on Geni, it is possible to link up all of the major Prague families. You can find a list of Prague Jewish surnames from Alexander Beider's work.
You will notice that many of them are rather uncommon today, but very distinctive for Prague, such as the possessive patro- and matronymics, the ones that end in -eles, like Abeles, Duschenes, Fleckeles, Jeiteles, Karpeles, Pascheles, Pereles, Schefteles, Schifferes, Sekeles, Taubeles, Wedeles, Zodekes.
What you find if you look at the Prague 1794 census (which is sadly not yet on line) is that these were mostly not very large families, maybe 5-10 separate families with the same last name, and so presumably closely related (siblings, cousins, uncles).
When you look at the Prague conscription database or the Census of the Prague Population you see many of the children from the 1794 census listed as adults with their families. The problem is matching them up because names are often repeated. Especially female names were quite restricted at that time, so half of the girls in 1794 seem to be named Sara, Judith or Rebeka. But even if a direct match cannot be found, it is possible on geni to enter in the families as relatives until the right link is discovered. For example, I entered in members of the Zeltmacher family. In the 1794 census there are basically three families, perhaps brothers, Juda, Dawid and Moises. Both Dawid and Moises have boys named Joachim. In the Prague conscription database we find the two Joachims, born 1776 and 1789, and can trace their families down several generations in that database. But we cannot tell which one is which. I set up hypothetical brothers of Dawid and Moises, named "?", and place these identified Joachims under them until we can tell which one goes where. That way the whole family is visible to anyone looking at the tree, even though it is not yet clear how all the pieces fit together. We know that they are pieces of the same puzzle! Once we have the Familianten records available, we will be able to sort this out and correct the tree.
The birth, death and marriage records for Prague are now available at http://www.badatelna.cz/fond/1073/. Go to Getting Started With Czech-Jewish Genealogy for instructions on how to navigate the site.
Death notices from the Prager Tagblatt are now indexed and available from GenTeam. These notices often provide names of spouses, children and their spouses (with maiden names), siblings and their spouses (with maiden names), and grandchildren, making them a real goldmine of information.
For further hints on how to conduct research on Czech-Jewish ancestry, see Getting Started With Czech-Jewish Genealogy.
My hope is that we will get access to the data that will allow us to reconstruct centuries of Jewish family history in Prague. Because Prague Jews used surnames before Jews from the outlying communities, we can sometimes trace back several centuries. Using the cemetery data, census data, conscriptions, Familianten, vital records, obituaries, and Holocaust databases, it should ultimately be possible to trace 400 years of history for some families, from the time of the Maharal up to the Holocaust.
Randy Schoenberg Los Angeles, CA
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Below is a list of profiles, one per family name, from which you can enter the tree:
- Joachim Altschul (1765-1837)
- Simon Ausch (1795)
- Jakob Austerlitz (1774)
- Israel Bakofen (1796-1861)
- Abraham Basch (1767)
- Markus Bauch (1805-1869)
- Adam Beihilf (1808)
- Simon Bendiner (1787-1871)
- Ignaz Beständig (1785)
- Markus Bindeles (1777)
- Isaac Bondi (1678-1750)
- Naphtali Brandeis (1786)
- Abraham Brod (1754)
- Abraham Bunzl (1775)
- Elias Dewidels (1787)
- Abraham Doktor (1765-1855)
- Aron Dormitzer (1779-1845)
- Markus Dringeles (1772)
- Abraham Duschenes (1759-1829)
- Barbara Dworeles (1766)
- Mathias Eckstein
- Moses Ederer (1789-1867)
- Jacob Eger (1773-1852)
- Salomon Eidlitz (1796)
- Samuel Elbogen (1781)
- Ephraim Epstein (1773)
- Ignatz Falkeles (1798)
- David Fischel (1787-1854)
- Eleazar Flekeles (1754-1826)
- Juda Foges (1740)
- Moses Frankl (1784)
- Samson Freiberg (1798-1866)
- Moses Freund (1777-1849)
- Samuel Fürth (1618-1640)
- David Gerstel (1787)
- Samuel Gibian (1798)
- Jakob Goldschmied (1784)
- Jacob Grab (1774)
- Simon Graetz (1783-1855)
- Löw Gröger (Greger) (1777)
- Heinrich Grünfeld (1792-1865)
- Markus Grünhut (1781-1858)
- Wolf Günzburg (1771)
- Koppelmann Gumperles (1790)
- Simon Hock (1815-1887)
- Moses Hönigsberg (1787)
- Aaron Meshulam Horowitz (1470-1545)
- Jonathan Hutter (1761)
- Lazar Itzeles (1761)
- Abraham Janowitzer (1767)
- Samuel Jeiteles (1775)
- David Jenikauer (1755)
- Simon Jerusalem (1769-1831)
- Joseph Joel (-1799)
- Isak Jontof (1747)
- Isak Joss (1761)
- Michael Jurist (1711-1816)
- Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
- Jakob Kalmus (1760-1802)
- Samuel Kantor (1796)
- Markus Kapper (1796)
- Joachim Karpeles (1750-1831)
- Jakob Kauders (1784)
- Filipp Kersch (1784)
- Simon Kindeles (1776)
- Salomon Kisch (1734)
- Moses Klaber (1761)
- Isak Klapp (1799-1865)
- Moses Klemperer (1771)
- Simon Knina (1775)
- David Kollin (1776)
- Izak Koppeles (1776)
- Eva Koref (1765)
- Zacharias Kremsier (1788)
- Löbl Küche (1775)
- David Kuh (1767)
- Löwy Kuranda (1781)
- Jacob Lagus (1817)
- Simon von Lämel (1766-1845)
- Josef Langendorf (1793-1866)
- Simon Lasch (1796)
- Moses Leipen (1783)
- Abraham Lichtenstadt (1791)
- Abraham Lieben (1764)
- Simon Lieberles (1780-1855)
- Moises Lilles (1788)
- Moses Lion (1783)
- Yehuda Loew "Maharal" (1512-1609)
- Josua Lowositz (1765)
- Herrmann Lucka (1790)
- Simon Matzka (1770)
- Jakob Meisterles (1789-1858)
- Herschmann Melis (1795)
- Michael Metzeles (1752)
- Herschmann Miecholup (1777)
- Josef Mislap (1789)
- Simon Moscheles (1786)
- Gabriel Muneles (1790)
- Gabriel Nachod (1776-1849)
- Abraham Natscheradetz (1790)
- Salamon Nefeles (1768)
- Joseph Neuern (1758-1832)
- Simon Neustadtl (1772-1836)
- Jakob Ofner (1792)
- Aron Osers (1762)
- Daniel Pan (1799)
- Gabriel Pascheles (1783)
- Salomon Pereles (1785)
- Nathan Persek (1775)
- Jakob Pisling (1787)
- Isak Pivany
- Simon Plohn (1788)
- Rebeka Podiebrad (1782)
- Elias Pohl (1764-1832)
- Gabriel Popper (1805-1883)
- Simon Porges (1802)
- Gabriel Pressburger (1780)
- Moses Prokurator (1760)
- Joachim Prossnitz (1766)
- Aron Przibram (1781)
- David Radnitz (1817-1892)
- Salamon Raudnitz (1780)
- Abigail Rausnitz (1772)
- Wolf Reach (1803)
- Samuel Reininger (1788)
- Israel Rie (1779-1826)
- Juda Rosenberg (1783)
- Jakob Saar (1796)
- Abraham Sattler (1779)
- Simon Schak (1787)
- Salamon Schapp (1793)
- Benjamin Schefteles (1757)
- Jakob Schifferes
- Markus Schlosser (1789-1865)
- Markus Schmelkes (1792-1849)
- David Schneider (1770)
- David Schnürdreher (1795)
- Abraham Isak Schütz (1787-1855)
- Wolf Schulhof (1790)
- Moses Sekeles (1792)
- Isak Senders (1818)
- Wolf Similes (1794)
- Josef Stein (1796)
- Lazar Wolf Steinitz (1773-1859)
- Seligmann Stösseles (1794)
- Abraham Straschitz (1759)
- Israel Tachau (1789-1859)
- Herschmann Taubeles (1762)
- Isak Taussig (1777)
- Isack Tedesko
- Moritz Teweles (1820-1898)
- Jonas Thein (1765)
- Markus Thorsch (1770-1819)
- Isak Todres (1798)
- Efraim Tomers (1763)
- Isak Trebitsch (1777)
- David Tritsch (1789)
- Isak Turnau (1770)
- Enoch Unger (1778-1866)
- Abraham Utitz (1800-1873)
- Simon Wahle (1782-1847)
- Samuel Wallerstein (1777-1837)
- Elias Wedeles (1775)
- Philipp Wehle (1770)
- Jakob Weiseles (1803)
- Bermann Weltsch (1770)
- Abraham Wien (1768)
- Ephraim Wiener (1791 - 1866)
- Salomon Wilhartitz (1782-1852)
- Joseph Winternitz (1772)
- Jakob Wohl (1781-1864)
- Wolf Zappert
- Moritz Zdekauer (1770-1845)
- Abraham Žebrak (1758)
- Abraham Zeckendorf (1802)
- Juda Zeitmacher (1761)
- Wolf Zodex (1761)
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The Old Jewish Quarter in Prague
In 1850, the former Jewish quarter in Prague was incorporated into the city and was named Josefstadt (Joseph's city) in honor of Emperor Joseph II of the Austrian Empire which ruled over what is now the Czech Republic in the 18th century.
- History of Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter in Prague.
- Old Jewish Cemetery in Josefov.
- Prague Synagogues Index