In the second year of the magazine Die Welt, founded by the leading representative of the Zionist movement Theodor Herzl in Vienna, Heinrich York-Steiner's short story Mendele Lohengrin was published in 1898 with the subtitle "The Story of a Musician". The story was published in the "Feuilleton" section in three installments:
The young klezmer Mendele from the small village of Martinsdorf saves up from his hard-earned money to fulfill a dream – to visit the imperial city of Vienna and the Court Opera. His experience there marks a turning point for him. Not only did he hear an opera for the very first time in his life, but the tones of Wagner's Lohengrin, which was on the program, opened up an entirely new world of music to him. He never wants to play or hear any music other than Wagner's again. However, his enthusiasm earns him only mockery and the nickname "Mendele Lohengrin" at home in Martinsdorf. Another young man from the same village, who has already glimpsed the modern world a bit more, reverses Mendele's enthusiasm for Wagner. He informs him that Richard Wagner hated Jews and even wrote a book about it. Mendele reads Wagner's tract and destroys his instrument – his "bass". The story ends with the words: "And when you ask in Martinsdorf why there is no longer Jewish music there, the answer is: Mendele Lohengrin is to blame."
Daniel Grossmann
Conductor Daniel Grossmann systematically dedicates himself to Jewish culture and its place in general awareness. For this reason, he founded the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich in 2005, which has become an internationally recognized ensemble over the years, and its projects occupy a significant place in musical life. Daniel Grossmann comes from a Hungarian-Jewish family and was born in 1978 in Munich. His conducting teachers were Hans-Rudolf Zöbeley in Munich, Scott Bergeson in New York, and Ervil Lukács at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Grossmann focuses on projects in which he combines music of past eras with current impulses. His discography includes works by Felix Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny Hensel, Alexander Zemlinsky, Viktor Ullmann, Paul Ben-Haim, Marc Neikrug, but also Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, and Ludwig van Beethoven. For his work, the Bavarian Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts awarded him the "Pro meritis scientiae et litterarum" distinction.
Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich (JCOM)
The orchestra considers itself the Jewish voice of the present and seeks unconventional ways to make Jewish culture accessible to the contemporary world. It has toured Israel, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, North America, China, etc., and operates throughout Germany as a representative of Jewish culture. The members of the orchestra come from more than twenty countries and are of both Jewish and non-Jewish origin. In its programs, the orchestra commemorates forgotten Jewish composers and fills former sites of Jewish life with living culture. It also commissions new works from young composers and maintains long-term collaborations with major Munich cultural institutions, such as the Bavarian State Opera, the Villa Stuck Museum, and the Münchner Kammerspiele. The orchestra's profile is complemented by a diverse educational and outreach program, including the platform "Music in the Terezín Concentration Camp," which was realized as part of the German Federal Cultural Foundation's program and offers interested parties insight into the living conditions and cultural activities in the concentration camp. JCOM recordings include works by Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn, Paul Ben-Haim, John Cage, Mieczysław Weinberg, and most recently a CD titled "Jewish Vienna," among others. Since 2020, JCOM has also been presenting various works by Jewish composers in professional audio and video recordings online on its YouTube channel.
Ethel Merhaut
Austrian singer and actress Ethel Merhaut has devoted herself to the repertoire of the first half of the 20th century. She thus combines the foundation of classical singing, which she studied in Vienna, with elements of jazz, swing, chanson, and acting. Her latest album Here & There is dedicated to the musical dialogue between Europe and the American exile; it is a "passionate defense of the music of a bygone era that still has so much to say about our present," as the recording is characterized. Ethel Merhaut performs in cabaret, revues, and jazz clubs; her musical-literary evening is dedicated to semi-forgotten authors Else Feldmann, Else Lasker-Schüler, and Vicki Baum, and also recalls, for example, the careers of Gitta Alpar or Martha Eggerth as a tribute to past times, without imitating the aforementioned artists. Ethel Merhaut also performs in concert halls and at renowned festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival or the Kurt Weill Festival. Together with Swiss actor Stefan Merki and the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich, she is the protagonist of the singspiel Mendele Lohengrin, in which she interprets a repertoire of Yiddish songs.
The Jerusalem Synagogue was built in 1905–1906, designed by architect Wilhelm Stiassny. Originally, it bore the name "Jubilee Synagogue of Emperor Francis Joseph I," commemorating the 50th anniversary of his reign, but after World War I, the name based on the street where it stands was adopted.
The synagogue combines pseudo-Moorish architectural lines with decoration in the Viennese Secession style. The interior stands out with rich paintings, stained glass, and striking arches, which give the space a monumental yet elegant expression. After extensive restoration since the 1990s, it has regained its original appearance and is now fully open to the public.
In addition to religious services, the Jerusalem Synagogue also serves as a cultural and exhibition space. Concerts, lectures, guided tours, or exhibitions are held inside. The exposition documents the history and life of the Jewish community in Prague, including the period after the Second World War, and through photographs, documents, and other materials allows visitors to glimpse into the cultural and social past of the city.
The synagogue is open to the public, which allows visitors not only to admire the architecture and decoration but also to learn about the cultural and historical significance of this space, which is today a vibrant place of meeting, music, and visual art.
