In 1570s a renowned businessman and benefactor of the ghetto, Mordechai Maisel, decided to build in the area of the present Klausen Synagogue a kloyz, or complex of buildings, probably including synagogues and a private Talmudic school. The famous Prague rabbi and scholar Maharal taught at this school. In 1689, the great fire of the ghetto burned down all the kloyzn and the synagogue is named after them.
