04

Schalom

On the 29. July 1945 the first Jewish bridal couple in Berlin got married in the synagogue in Rykestrasse. It was the sign of hope and of a new beginning.
Around 1910 the registered inhabitants of the district Prenzlauer Berg included the third-largest group of Jewish citizens in Berlin – 19000 people. They set up a multifaceted Jewish infrastructure with synagogues, welfare institutions, children’s homes, schools, clubs and shops.
Two shields of David grace the wrought-iron gate of the double gateway of the largest German synagogue inaugurated in 1904. The building, shaped like a Neo-Romanesque basilica with three naves, followed the design of churches built in brick in the March of Brandenburg. Apart from orthodox clerics liberal rabbis officiated, too. In1930 a woman was elected member of the community council – in 1935, Regine Jonas became the first ordained female Rabbi in the world.
The front building housed the III. Primary School of the registered “Jewish School Association” and the VI. Religious School of the Jewish community with approximately 500 pupils. After 1933 the school aimed to prepare students for an emigration to Palestine. Lilli Henoch who was murdered near Riga, in her time a famous athlete and world record holder, was the p. e. teacher of this school until its dissolution.

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