Up to WWII the Jewish community in Berlin was a crucible of intellectuals, scientists and businessmen that had fostered city life for centuries.
Acknowledging this lost world is crucial to understanding Berlin today and demands an exploration of German-Jewish relationships before the rise of National Socialism. In this tour we will cover Jewish life in Berlin from its inception to its ultimate destruction, while walking through the streets of the Jewish Quarter in Mitte.
We will show you the New Synagogue, whose restored dome is the symbol of reformed Judaism, we will see what remains of Tacheles (from the Hebrew “speak openly”), and stop by the former Jewish school and orphanage in Auguststraße – a street where you can also find a kosher meal or snack.
We will wander through the beautifully renovated Hackesche Höfe which host, among the trendy stores and artsy galleries, both the Anna Frank Center and the Otto Weidt Museum. Otto Weidt was a Berlin manufacturer who saved numerous Jews from deportation by employing them in his brush business: our tour will include a visit to the museum located on the premises of the former brush factory.
LANDMARKS:
(the stops can be selected and arranged according to specific needs):
-
The enclosed courtyards at Hackesche Höfe
-
Otto Weidt Museum
-
Toleranzstrasse (“Tolerance Street”)
-
Tacheles
-
Moses Mendelssohn’s Grave in the Old Jewish Cemetery
-
Ahawah Children’s Home (Jewish orphanage between 1918 and 1940)
-
Former Jewish School for Girls
-
·The New Synagogue
The long history Jewish life in Germany through the lens of Berlin’s Schneuenviertel
Duration: 3 hours
Berlin in its darkest hour: rise and fall of the Nazi dictatorship
