RE: [Cz-L] Star of David as architectural decoration in Czernowitz and vicinity

To those who want to indulge in the subject, here is a "blog" with plenty o=
f information:
http://star-of-david.blogspot.com/
 
The following link shows an interesting mathematical and geometrical relati=
onship between 3 different Magen Davids inscribed in each other. Their sizes=
 are exactly the root of 3 of the one "above" it, and it goes on infinitely.
http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A5:Inscribeddavidstar.jp=
g
 
[Try <http://is.gd/B0IA> if the above link does not work. Moderator Bruce]=
 

The old flag of Northern Ireland has a six-pointed star:
http://www.fotw.net/flags/gb-ni.html
It is not in use since 1973.
 
The flag of Burundi has 3 stars:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Burundi
 
The old flag of British Colonial Nigeria does too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_British_Colonial_Nigeria.svg

No wonder Architect Josef Hlavka (1831-1908) used the six-pointed star as a=
n architectural ornament in his works (by the way, his masterpiece is the de=
sign of the Vienna Opera). As a student in the Technical University in Pragu=
e as well as in the famous Academy of Plastic Arts in Vienna, he must have b=
een influenced by the historic events that took place in his homeland. In 13=
54 Carl the 4th, king of Bohemia, celebrating his becoming head of the "Sacr=
ed Roman Empire" with Prague as its capital, gave the Jewish congregation of=
 Prague a gift: a unique permit to hoist a flag of its own. This was a red f=
lag with a hexagram (Magen David) next to the pole. This is considered to be=
 the first time any Jewish community in Europe had a unique symbol to distin=
guish it from other minorities. The "Altneuschul" in Prague was then ornamen=
ted with a Magen David in the "Rosetta" (the round vitrage-window above the =
entrance), 90 years after it was built.

Nathan Gross - Architect & Town Planner
 



 
> Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 00:37:24 -0400
> Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Star of David as architectural decoration in Czernowi=
tz and vicinity
> From: iosif.vaisman_at_gmail.com
> To: mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu
> CC: czernowitz-l_at_list.cornell.edu
>
> Dear Mimi,
>
> The Residenz ensemble was built by a famous Czech architect Josef
> Hlavka (he also built several buildings in Prague and more than 100
> buildings in Vienna). Architecturally the Residenz is eclectic, with
> seamless combination of Byzantine, Roman, Moorish Revival and
> Neo-Gothic styles. Six-pointed stars is a standard element in Moorish
> ornamentation. While the old legend attributes the stars on the
> Residenz to the acknowledgment of Jewish contributions to the
> construction fund (those were very real, the final budget amounted to
> the gigantic sum of 1.8 million gold florins), it is impossible to say
> whether the stars were of "Jewish" or Moorish origin.
>
> The Archbishop of Bukovina and Dalmatia (his official title) was on
> friendly terms with both Czernowitz Jewish religious leaders - Reform
> Chief Rabbi Lazar Igel and Orthodox Av Beis Din Binyomin Weiss. I
> don't know about laying out the street plan, but with the latter he
> regularly played chess - both were very good players - and discussed
> various theological issues afterward.
>
> These weekly chess matches were described by the Rabbi Weiss'
> grandson. Born Leopold Weiss, he became a prominent war correspondent
> for leading German newspapers during the WWI. After the the war, on a
> reporting assignment to Palestine he befriended a Saudi prince,
> converted to Islam, and eventually, under the new name Muhammad Asad
> became a world leading authority on modern interpretations of Sharia
> law, writing numerous books on this subject. In the 1940ies he was one
> of the founders of independent Pakistan and Pakistan's first
> representative to the UN. His memoir "The Road to Mecca" was published
> by Simon and Schuster in 1954 and reprinted several times.
>
> Iosif
>
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Received on 2009-05-18 14:11:36