The synagogue of the Jewish Reform Congregation in “Johannisstraße” in the “Spandauer Vorstadt” area in what is now Berlin-Mitte (central Berlin) was inaugurated in 1854 as Berlin’s second synagogue. The Reform Congregation introduced some distinctive changes to the Jewish liturgy including the increased use of the German language, organ accompaniment, mixed seating of men and women, abandonment of the kippah / yarmulke, use of the designation “temple” for the synagogue and the postponement of the service to Sunday rather than on Shabbat. These changes were visibly announced by the inscription above the entrances which was in German rather than in Hebrew: “Heilig dem Ewigen” (Holy to the Eternal).
After partial destruction during the November 1938 pogroms (Reichskristallnacht), the synagogue was restored and served as a replacement for the nearby New Synagogue in Oranienburger Strasse from 1941 to mid-1942 after the latter was closed. The Nazis closed the synagogue down in 1942. The building was destroyed by Allied air raids and the ruins later removed. The land on which this synagogue stood was used as a parking lot after the holocaust up to around 2010, when the redevelopment of the devastated area started.
Single layer colour linocut edition of 4
Print size: 22 x 34 cm, paper size: 38 x 57 cm.
Paper: Canson Edition 250 gsm, 100% cotton, pH neutral and archival
The building was designed as by Friedrich Gustav Alexander Stier and had space for 1024 worshippers. Rabbi Samuel Holdheim (1806 – 1860) was instrumental in building the reform synagogue. He was one of the more extreme leaders of the early Reform Movement.
