This postcard depicts the New Synagogue located on Oranienburger Street in Berlin. Outside the synagogue, people dressed in a style characteristic of the nineteenth century can be seen walking or riding down the street.
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The New Synagogue - The New Synagogue was designed by the famous architect Edward Knoblauch and was built between 1859 and 1866. It was inaugurated in 1866 in a ceremony that was attended by the then Prussian prime minister, Otto von Bismark. It was intended as the main synagogue of the Berlin Jewish community with the ability to seat 3000 people. The New Synagogue was built in the eastern Moorish style based on the Alhambra in Grenada and was seen as an important architectural monument. The famous dome shown in the picture has a ribbed design and stands 50 metres tall. The facade of the building was built with coloured glazed bricks and terracotta. The synagogue, which was to be the largest synagogue in Europe, housed an organ and a choir, aligning itself with liberal Judaism that was gaining momentum during the twentieth century. The majestic design of the New Synagogue suggested that European synagogues had transformed from quiet, modest, and, in many cases, inconspicuous buildings to grand, prominent monumental examples of architecture, thus reflecting a change in the Jewish community’s status.
The New Synagogue during Kristallnacht - During Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938, the interior of the New Synagogue suffered great destruction. Torah scrolls were destroyed, and furniture and furnishings were smashed and set alight. The synagogue however remained intact and continued to be in use until 1940, when it was seized by the German army and used as a storage space for uniforms. The community conducted prayers in one of the offices at the front of the synagogue but were forced to evacuate in 1942. Unfortunately, the synagogue was burned by allied bombings during the Battle of Berlin (November 18, 1943 – March 25, 1944).
The buildings on the left and right of the synagogue, also belonging to the Jewish community, withstood the war and were used in 1946 by the surviving Jews of Berlin. In 1958 the Jewish community was forced to demolish the ruined sections of the synagogue including the dome and the main prayer hall. It was not until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that the community began to restore the synagogue and re-establish the Jewish community.
Today, prayers once again take place at the Oranienburger Synagogue which serves the Masorti (conservative) community of Berlin. The building also includes a museum, and visitors may visit the dome.
Jewish Community in Berlin - The first documentation of Jews in Berlin is from 1295. Before this time, Jews lived mainly in the south of Germany, moving to Berlin and the north to escape the Crusader persecutions. Life for Jews in Berlin was not easy; they were a target for violence and discrimination and were expelled from the city four times. They worked mainly in money lending and trade and lived in segregated areas: Judenstrasse (Jew Street) and the Grosser Jodenhof (Jew’s Court). After they were expelled in 1571, hardly any Jews lived in Berlin for a century. In 1663 Jews began to return to the city, and their situation slowly improved. The community grew, a synagogue (the Old Synagogue) was built in 1714, and in the following years a Jewish hospital and school were founded. In the middle of the nineteenth century the Jews were gradually emancipated and began to integrate into all aspects of society. By the turn of the century, the Jewish community comprised more than 5 percent of the total population of Berlin and were prominent in the economic, social, and academic elite. Eight elaborate new synagogues were built, including the New Oranienburger Synagogue. The early years of the twentieth century were the golden age of Berlin Jewry with many Jews influential in the fields of politics, science, arts, and literature. However, these were also the years of growing anti-Semitism and the rise of the Nazi party. In the ensuing years, the Berlin Jews suffered the fate of their fellow Jews around Europe: many fled Germany, while others were deported and murdered in the Nazi concentration camps. After World War II a small Jewish community was re-established in Berlin, and after the reunification of Germany, many Jews from the former Soviet Union settled in the city. Today the Jewish population of Berlin is the largest in Germany, and there are many synagogues and Jewish schools and institutions.
