Chevra Tehilim Prayer House in Krakow: Psalm Society history

Built in 1896 on the initiative of the Psalm Society, the Chevra Tehilim Prayer House in Krakow stands on the corner of Meiselsa Street and Bożego Ciała Street in Kazimierz, the historic Jewish quarter. Its Polish name is dom modlitwy Bractwa Psalmowego (Chewra Thilim).

Where the Chevra Tehilim Prayer House stands

The building has a corner address: Meiselsa 18 and Bożego Ciała 13. It is a two-storey building with Romanesque Revival and Gothic Revival decorative details on its façade, described by the City of Krakow. You can see the façade from both streets.

The Psalm Society and its two prayer halls

Members of the Psalm Society used to read the whole Book of Psalms from beginning to end every day, according to FestivALT, the group behind the #RememberChewra campaign about the building. The women's hall on the upper floor held more than three hundred people, and the men's hall on the ground floor more than two hundred and thirty. The building was designed by an architect named Kopold.

History of the Chevra Tehilim Prayer House

During the Holocaust, the Germans devastated the interior of the building. After the war, until 2006, the building housed the Krakowiacy song and dance ensemble.

In 2001 the building was returned to the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow under the 1997 law on the relationship between the state and Jewish religious communities in Poland.

In 2008, wall paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries were uncovered on the interior walls. They show plant and animal motifs, views of Jerusalem and Hebrew inscriptions.

The Chevra Tehilim building today

The Jewish Religious Community in Krakow leased the building for catering and entertainment. In 2013 its chairman, Tadeusz Jakubowicz, explained that the Community's finances were uncertain and that there was no money to maintain the premises.

In 2016, at the tenant's request, a door was cut into the wall at the former niche for the Aron ha-Kodesh (the Ark of the Torah) to make a second entrance. According to FestivALT, this was done with the consent of the local Jewish community and the Krakow conservator of monuments.

Plac Nowy, the Tempel Synagogue and other places nearby

The Centre for Jewish Culture is about 50 m from the prayer house, and Plac Nowy is about 100 m away. Corpus Christi Church and the Tempel Synagogue are each about 200 m away. All distances are in a straight line. Our electric cart tour of Kazimierz runs through the district where the building stands.

Chevra Tehilim Prayer House: questions visitors ask

Where is the Chevra Tehilim Prayer House in Krakow?

At Meiselsa 18, on the corner with Bożego Ciała Street in Kazimierz. Its second address is Bożego Ciała 13.

When was the Chevra Tehilim Prayer House built?

In 1896. The Psalm Society initiated the construction.

What does the name Chevra Tehilim refer to?

To the Psalm Society, for which the prayer house was built.

Is the Chevra Tehilim Prayer House a listed monument?

According to FestivALT, the building was entered in the register of monuments in 2013 under number A-1343/M.

Photo: Jeremiah Z. Cockroach, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.