The Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue, german: Synagoge Pestalozzistraße, italic=no, is a liberal
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
in the German capital Berlin, at 14–15 Pestalozzistraße, in the
Bezirk
The German term ''Bezirk'' (plural ''Bezirke'', derived from la, circulus, "circle") translated as "district" can refer to the following types of administrative divisions:
* ''Stadtbezirk'', a subdivision of a city in the sense of a borough (e. ...
of
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf () is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in an administrative reform with effect from 1 January 2001, by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf.
Overview
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf covers the w ...
.
History
![Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P094010,_Berlin,_Synagoge_in_der_Pestalozzistraße](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P094010%2C_Berlin%2C_Synagoge_in_der_Pestalozzistra%C3%9Fe.jpg)
The synagogue was commissioned by Betty Sophie Jacobsohn and was built between 1911 and 1913; the architect was Ernst Dorn. It was at first independent, but in 1919 joined the
Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin.
The structure was severely damaged on the night of 9–10 November 1938, "
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
", but was not set on fire. Renovation work was begun shortly after the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and the synagogue was re-dedicated on 14 September 1947.
Music
Prayer services are accompanied by
organ and
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
. Much of the music used for the services was composed by
Louis Lewandowski
Louis Lewandowski (April 3, 1821 – February 4, 1894) was a Polish-Jewish and German-Jewish composer of synagogal music.
He contributed greatly to the liturgy of the Synagogue Service. His most famous works were composed during his tenure as ...
.
References
Further reading
*
* {{midsize, Esther Slevogt (2012). ''Die Synagoge Pestalozzistrasse''. Berlin: Hentrich & Hentrich. {{ISBN, 9783942271684.
Jewish German history
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
Synagogues in Berlin
Synagogues completed in 1913
Reform synagogues in Germany
1913 establishments in Germany