Berlin's oldest surviving synagogue

The Neue Synagoge ("New Synagogue"), also called Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue, was built 1859–1866 as the main synagogue of the Berlin Jewish community, on Oranienburger Strasse. Its built in eastern Moorish style with a resemblance to the Alhambra by the architects  Eduard Knoblauch and, after his death in 1865, Friedrich August Stüler. It replaced the „Old Synagoge“ after it became too small for the rapidly growing community. With space for 3,000 people it was the largest synagogue in Germany at the time. The building housed public concerts, including a violin concert with Albert Einstein in 1930. It´s location and bold style with it's gilded ribs was visible from far away, epitomising the emancipation and the growing importance of the Jewish community; the New Synagogue was inaugurated in the presence of Otto von Bismarck, then Minister President of Prussia, in 1866.

During the November Pogrom of 1938, the Nazi mob destroyed the interior and set fire. The police officer Otto Bellgardt then arrived, ordered - with drawn pistol - the arsonists to disperse, and got the fire brigade to extinguish the fire before it could spread. Otto Bellgardt was later supported by his boss, Wilhelm Krützfeld, head of the local police precinct; Krützfeld has often mistakenly been identified -  as on the plaque at the building - as the rescuer of the New Synagogue.

After the synagogue was saved from destruction and was subsequently repaired by the congregation, who continued to use it as synagogue until 31 March 1940, after which it was closed by the Nazis. On the night of the 22–23 November 1943, the synagogue was destroyed by British air raids.

In the 1950s after the war, the Jewish Community of East Berlin was forced to demolish the remains of the main prayer hall and to tear down the damaged, but mostly preserved, central dome of the front section adjacent to the street.

After fall of the Berlin Wall the still standing parts of the building close to the street, including the façade, the dome, and some rooms behind were restored, but the main prayer hall was not rebuilt. Today it houses the the Centrum Judaicum", offices and, since 1995, a small synagogue congregation. It is a Masorti synagogue and follows an equalitarian, liberal-conservative rite.

After arriving in Berlin, the first service I attended was in this small synagogue - a very special moment!