The synagogue in Lindenstrasse was built in 1890/91 to designs by the Cremer & Wolffenstein architects, who specialised in building synagogues, and inaugurated on September 27, 1891. During the November 1938 pogroms (Reichskristallnacht) the interior was damaged but the building as such remained intact. From 1939 to 1942 it was misused as a granary. In February 1945 the building was destroyed in an Allied air raid. In 1956 the remains were removed.
Single layer colour linocut edition of 4
Print size: 28 x 28 cm, paper size: 38 x 57 cm.
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The synagogue was the fourth community synagogue in Berlin. It was built in the neo-Gothic style using romanizing elements and offered 1,800 people space. The synagogue was located in a backyard surrounded by residential and administrative building, which prevented that the building being put on fire during the pogroms. The prayer house could hardly be seen from the street and could only be reached through a spacious passage in the front building. On the street front stood a community-owned residential and administrative building that housed the second religious school of the Berlin Jewish Community. From 1940 to 1942 boys and girls from the Jewish middle school who had not succeeded in emigrating from Nazi Germany studied here.
The service was based on the New Rite of the Oranienburger Strasse synagogue. From 1928 to 1938 Manfred Lewandowski – the well known cantor, classical singer (baritone) and composer – was the synagogue’s chief cantor. He managed to emigrate to the US.
Today the road is not Lindenstrasse any longer but Axel-Springer-Straße. The property now houses the headquarters of one of Germany’s largest health insurance companies. In their courtyard, a memorial and information boards remind of the history of the synagogue.
