Old Synagogue (Berlin)

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Old Synagogue, etching by Friedrich August Calau

The Old Synagogue in Berlin , built between 1712 and 1714, was located at Heidereutergasse 4 in the old Berlin Marienviertel , in what is now the Berlin district of Mitte .

history

Interior of the old synagogue
Memorial plaque , Heidereutergasse , in Berlin-Mitte

The first documentary mention of Jews in Berlin comes from the year 1295. After repeated expulsions, 1671 Jews settled permanently in Berlin. An edict of the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm (1620–1688) of May 21, 1671, motivated by the maxims of economic and fiscal benefit , allowed 50 Jewish families expelled from Vienna to settle in the Margraviate of Brandenburg for an initial period of 20 years . The majority of them came to Berlin, where they also privately maintained a synagogue. The court factor Jost Liebmann received the Privilileg 1684 to hold Jewish worship only there.

After the Jewish Community of Berlin was initially banned from building synagogues , it acquired a garden plot from the President of the Court of Appeal von Sturm and the residential building at Heidereutergasse 4 from a master mason and signed a contract with the council mason Melcher for the construction. The master carpenter Michael Kemmeter was responsible for the construction of the roof and was already involved in several Berlin buildings. It is unclear whether one of the two builders also supplied the architectural design for the synagogue. The foundation stone was laid on May 9, 1712, the inauguration of the church took place on September 14, 1714. The exact construction cost is unknown and there was no financial support from the government.

The synagogue was called the Great Synagogue at the time because there were only small private synagogues until then. It was a rectangular hall building with a high cove ceiling , whereby the tower characteristic of the Christian church building was missing. With high arched windows and hipped roof, it resembled the type of simple church buildings erected under Friedrich Wilhelm I , such as the garrison church in Berlin-Mitte, built in 1720 by Philipp Gerlach and also without a tower .

In the years 1854/1855 the synagogue was rebuilt by Eduard Knoblauch (1801–1865). The most important change was a women's gallery with four stair extensions. In addition, the building was expanded to the east and the dais was relocated to a newly created apse .

In the 19th century the Jewish community in Berlin had grown rapidly and by 1860 had around 28,000 members. The only synagogue at the time no longer offered enough space, so the New Synagogue was built on Oranienburger Strasse . At that time, the synagogue in Heidereutergasse was given the name Old Synagogue .

In the pogrom night of 9/10 November 1938 it was not destroyed. One reason for this was probably the sheltered location in the middle of a courtyard, which was surrounded on all four sides by houses. On November 20, 1942, the last service took place in the Old Synagogue. In World War II it was completely destroyed.

Since September 14, 2000, a memorial plaque and the outline of the synagogue marked with stones in a green area remind of this place of worship. The remains of the foundation walls have been a listed building since 2011 .

See also

literature

  • The chronicle of Berlin. Chronik Verlag, Dortmund 1986, ISBN 3-88379-082-6 .
  • Synagogues in Berlin, on the history of a destroyed architecture. Verlag Willmuth Arenhövel, Berlin, ISBN 3-922912-04-4 .
  • Moritz Stern - History of the Old Synagogue in Berlin. Verlag Hentrich & Hentrich, ISBN 978-3-938485-66-8 .

Web links

Commons : Old Synagogue  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Britta L. Behm: Moses Mendelssohn and the Transformation of Jewish Education in Berlin - An Educational History Analysis of the Jewish Enlightenment in the 18th Century , Waxmann Verlag GmbH, Münster, 2002, ISBN 3-8309-1135-1 , p. 49
  2. ↑ Carol Herselle Krinsky: Synagogues of Europe - Architecture, History, Meaning , Dover Publications, 1996, ISBN 0-486-29078-6 , p. 261
  3. ↑ State monument list (see current PDF version)

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '16 "  N , 13 ° 24' 17.4"  E