The Old Synagogue (Alte Synagoge) was the oldest synagogue in Berlin, built between 1712 and 1714. The synagogue was located at Heidereitergasse (today Heidereutergasse) in the central district of Marienviertel (today Berlin-Mitte). It was known as the Great Synagogue until the opening of the New Synagogue, built in the 1860s.
During the November pogroms 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 by houses on all four sides. The last service took place in the Old Synagogue on November 20, 1942. It was completely destroyed in World War II. Since 2000, a memorial plaque and the outline of the synagogue marked with stones in a green area remind of it’s place.
Multi layer colour linocut edition of 6
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An edict of the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm (1620–1688) of May 21, 1671, allowed 50 Jewish families expelled from Vienna to settle in the Margraviate of Brandenburg (Mark Brandenburg). The majority of them came to Berlin. Here they maintained a cemetery and a privately synagogue. In 1684 the court factor Jost Liebmann was granted the privilege of holding Jewish services only there. Later several small private synagogues were established. Around 1700, another 117 Jewish families from Vienna followed, so that the Jewish community life was consolidated.
After long resistance from the operators of the private synagogues, influential community members and the authorities, a building permit was granted, a plot of land on Heidereutergasse was acquired in 1711 for the construction of a synagogue. The foundation stone was laid on May 9, 1712, and the inauguration took place on September 14, 1714.
The synagogue was built as a rectangular hall building. The roof and ceiling was constructed by Michael Kemmeter, a German non-jewish carpenter and builder, who was well known at the time for his contributions to the German Church (Deutsche Dom) on Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt. The Old Synagogue was remodelled in 1854/1855 by the architect Eduard Knoblauch. The most important change was a women’s gallery with four stair extensions. Knoblauch was a very prolific German architect, who designed and built many residential houses, bank buildings, hotels, castles and country estates in Brandenburg, Pomerania, Silesia and East Prussia as well as the Jewish Hospital in Berlin, Auguststrasse, and the Neue Synagoge in Oranienburger Strasse.
J. Rodenberg described the Old Synagogue in 1884:
The synagogue on Heidereitergasse does not show its age; there is nothing cobweb-like, dark or dusty in it. Recently restored, its walls glisten with white, the sunshine penetrates through colorful panes and the ceiling is beautifully paneled. But the service moves in the old strict forms.
