New Synagogue

The Neue Synagoge (New Synagogue) in Berlin was built between 1859 and 1866 and destroyed in the mid-20th-century.

Now a meticulously restored landmark, the New Synagogue is an exotic amalgam of styles, with a Moorish feel. Its bulbous, gilded cupola stands out in the skyline.

When the New Synagogue was consecrated on Rosh Hashanah in 1866, it was the largest synagogue in Europe, with 3,200 seats.

Capped with one of the most spectacular domes in Berlin, the New Synagogue's design was inspired by the Moorish architecture of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

The Neue Synagogue was damaged on Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938), when Nazi looters rampaged across Germany, burning synagogues and smashing the few Jewish shops and homes left in the country. It was desecrated and set on fire, but avoided major damage thanks to the efforts of Wilhelm Krützfeld, the local police chief.

The synagogue was, however, heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1943. It was then torched by Berliners in 1944 and finally demolished by the Communist East Germans in the 1950s.

It wasn't until the mid-1980s that the East German government restored this great landmark, but the bulk of the synagogue was never rebuilt. In its place is an empty plot of land on which is marked the original layout of the building, providing a disturbing insight into the destruction of a way of life that used to be.

Now functioning primarily as a museum, the New Synagogue houses an exhibit on the history of the building and its congregants, with fragments of the original architecture and furnishings. Sabbath services are held in a modern addition.

The main part of the exhibition consists of recovered architectural fragments and remnants of the interior furnishings of the historical building. Various displays and documents give an impression of Jewish life in this part of Berlin.

The guided tour provides access to an open space behind the restored parts of the building, which gives a powerful impression of the size of the original synagogue and the extent of its destruction.

The inner wall and the remnants of the masonry have been secured by a glass and steel structure and the ground plan of the former synagogue has been laid out in stone in the open space.