The original purpose of the Ceremonial hall was to provide the last service to the deceased members of the Prague Jewish Community.  The Prague Jewish Burial Society controlled the building and the morgue was in the basement.  On the first floor was a room for the ritual washing of the dead, or purification, and on the 2nd floor was a meeting room where the society held its meetings and annual banquets.

The present building replaced an older building which served the same purpose and it was constructed in 1906-8 in the  Romanesque Revival style.  It has not been used for its original purpose sine World War I.  In 1926, the Prague Burial Society rented the building to the Jewish Museum of Prague which uses it as exhibition space.

The Old Jewish Cemetery ... is one of the largest of its kind in Europe.  It served its purpose from the first half of the 15th century until 1786.   The exact date of the beginning is unknown but the oldest gravestone in the cemetery is from 1439.

The cemetery was in active use for more than three centuries and struggled with the lack of space.  Only occasionally were the Jewish Community allowed to purchase grounds to expand.  Thus they had to gain space in other ways - such as adding a new layer of soil on the existing area.  Over the centuries this resulted in some places where a many as twelve layers exist.  Jewish custom forbid the removal of old graves, so when new levels were added it was necessary to move the existing grave stones to the new higher level.  This created the dense forest of gravestones one sees today.  Over 100,000 bodies are buried below the 12,000 headstones in the cemetery. 

The last gravestone is dated 1787.