Berlin - 69-70 Prinzregentstrasse (Wilmersdorf Locality)

Summary: The plot of land on which this synagogue was built was acquired in 1913; the Prinzregentstrasse synagogue would be the last significant building commissioned by the official Jewish Community of Berlin, whose purpose was to oversee Jewish community and religious life in the whole city. Alexander Beer, a well-known architect, planned and designed this house of worship in 1922, but planning difficulties delayed construction until 1928. The synagogue’s main sanctuary accommodated 2,000 worshippers, including those in the women’s gallery. The building’s wings, extending from each side of the main entrance, housed a small synagogue for weekday services, a hall for social functions, and apartments for the rabbi. The synagogue also had an organ. Its inauguration service (on September 16, 1930) was followed, just 12 days later, by the news of the Nazis’ victories in the Reichstag (national parliament) elections. The young Dr. Manfred Swarsensky was appointed rabbi in 1932 and served the Prinzregentstrasse congregation until the synagogue’s destruction in 1938. The synagogue was set on fire on Pogrom Night (November 1938), after which it was left as a ruin; later, Allied bombing completed the destruction. The site now accommodates a residential home for the blind.
Photo: People entering the synagogue in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Courtesy of: Federal Archives, 102-10414.
Photo 2: A fire engine beside the burning synagogue in Berlin-Wilmersdorf on the morning of November 10, 1938. Ghetto Fighters House Photo Archive/AP, 14208.
Author / Sources: Harold Slutzkin; Sources: SIB, WDJB
Located in: berlin