Centre for Jewish Culture in Krakow: a former prayer house

On the corner of Meiselsa Street and Plac Nowy (formerly Plac Żydowski, Jewish Square), a single-storey 19th-century building that was built as a prayer house is the seat of the Centre for Jewish Culture in Krakow. In Polish its name is Centrum Kultury Żydowskiej, and its full English name is the Judaica Foundation Center for Jewish Culture. The Centre describes itself as a place open to everyone, with a programme for Jewish and non-Jewish, Polish and foreign audiences.

The main aims of the Centre are to protect Jewish heritage in Kazimierz and to create a platform for Polish-Jewish dialogue. The Centre also works to preserve the memory of the centuries-long presence of Jews in Poland and of Polish-Jewish neighbourly relations. It also works to spread knowledge of the history and culture of Polish Jews among the younger generation. The Centre calls this work a civic initiative.

Visiting the Centre for Jewish Culture

The address is Meiselsa 17, 31-058 Krakow. On the Plac Nowy side, the same corner building has the number 5, and it stands just by the crossroads of Rabina Meiselsa Street and Bożego Ciała Street. The Centre publishes a monthly programme of events, such as meetings and film screenings, which in the October 2026 programme start at 18:00.

Programmes change from month to month, so check the current programme on the website of the Judaica Foundation Center for Jewish Culture before your visit.

Bajit Chadasz and the Hertz Memorial Lecture

In the Centre's own words, its programme covers lectures, author meetings, book launches, conferences and seminars, summer programmes, documentary and feature film screenings, concerts and exhibitions.

In 1996 the Centre began to organise Bajit Chadasz (New Home), a month of meetings with Jewish culture. The month took place in Tishri, the first month of the Jewish year, during the High Holidays. Each edition was usually devoted to one figure, such as Franz Kafka or Mordechaj Gebirtig, or to one theme, such as Jewish Galicia.

The Centre's programme also included the Aleksander and Alicja Hertz Annual Memorial Lecture, which was always on a Polish-Jewish subject. Czesław Miłosz gave the first lecture in 1999, about his friendship with Aleksander Hertz. The following lectures were given by Professor Israel Gutman and Ryszard Kapuściński. In 1996 the Centre and the Włoski Instytut Kultury w Krakowie, an Italian cultural institute, also began to prepare the Settimana della Cultura Ebraica, a week-long programme on Italian-Jewish themes.

History of the B'nei Emuna prayer house

The building was put up as a beit midrash, or prayer house, for the B'nei Emuna Prayer and Benevolent Society. The City of Krakow gives 1886 as the year of construction, while the Centre dates the building to the 1880s. The design was by Jacek Matusiński, a Krakow architect and builder. The building served religious purposes until the outbreak of the Second World War.

In the following decades the building was a joinery workshop and then a warehouse, and later it was left as an abandoned ruin. A thorough renovation and modernisation took place in 1989-1993. The work was possible thanks to financial help from the United States Congress, transferred through a Polish-American joint commission for humanitarian aid in Warsaw. Polish institutions also gave support, among them the Municipality of Krakow and the General Conservator of Monuments (Generalny Konserwator Zabytków).

The idea of the Judaica Foundation arose in Krakow during the great historical changes in Poland, with the participation of Czesław Jakubowicz, then president of the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow (Wyznaniowa Gmina Żydowska w Krakowie). The foundation began its work in 1991. On 24 November 1993 the Centre for Jewish Culture opened under the auspices of the foundation.

Since 1993 the daily activity of the Centre has been possible mainly thanks to support from institutions and individuals in Poland and abroad. The Centre writes that the building has become a regular stop on visits to Kazimierz for Polish and foreign groups and for individual tourists.

Near the Centre for Jewish Culture: Isaac and Kupa synagogues

Plac Nowy and the Chevra Tehilim Prayer House are both about 50 m away. The Isaac Synagogue and the Kupa Synagogue are each about 150 m away. All these distances are measured in a straight line.

Centre for Jewish Culture: questions visitors ask

Where is the Centre for Jewish Culture in Krakow?

At Meiselsa 17, on the corner of Meiselsa Street and Plac Nowy. Seen from Plac Nowy, the building is number 5 on the square.

What was the Centre for Jewish Culture building before 1993?

A prayer house of the B'nei Emuna Prayer and Benevolent Society, used for worship until the Second World War. After that it was a joinery workshop and a warehouse, and it was an abandoned ruin before the renovation.

When did the Centre for Jewish Culture open?

On 24 November 1993. The Judaica Foundation, under whose auspices it opened, had begun its work in 1991.

What kind of events does the Centre for Jewish Culture hold?

Meetings, film screenings, concerts and exhibitions are among them. In the October 2026 programme, events start at 18:00.

Photo: Zygmunt Put, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.