Berlin – Fasanenstrasse
At the turn of nineteenth century, the Jewish population of Berlin increased from about 5,000 to about 23,000. Therefore an additional synagogue was built on Fasanenstrasse, Berlin-Charlottenburg. It was built in a new Romanesque style with three domes and decorated with mosaics and ornaments. When it was inaugurated in 1912, it had room for about 1700 people and also consisted of classrooms, wedding rooms, offices and apartments. The Synagogue became a central place for Berlin Jews in the coming decades. In 1931 Jews were attacked by members of the Hitler Youth and the S. A. During Kristallnacht in November 1938, the synagogue was vandalized and put on fire by SA and other Nazi sympathizers. The fire brigade had been ordered not to fight the fire, but just to make sure that it did not spread to other buildings. During Kristallnacht (9/11) about 300 synagogues were destroyed or vandalized around Germany (including Austria). During an allied bombing of Berlin in 1943, the synagogue was further damaged.
Current status: Demolished with monument (2010).
Address: Fasanenstrasse 79/80, 10623 Berlin.
Get there: Metro to Kurfürstendamm or Uhlandsstrasse Station.
Follow up in books: Gilbert, Martin: The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War (1987).
After the war, the synagogue was not rebuilt. In 1959, a Jewish community hall was built on the site where Berlin’s Jews can meet and socialize. Oddly enough, parts of the previous entrance survived and is now part of the current entrance to the hall. Just outside the entrance there are two memorials, one for the synagogue/Kristallnacht and one in memory of the Jews from Berlin who were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945.