Germany: Multiple Memorials for Berlin's Munchener Strasse Synagogue

Berlin, Germany. Image of the former Münchener Straße 37 on view in the Bayerischer Platz U-Bahn station. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016

Germany: Multiple Memorials for Berlin's Munchener Strasse Synagogue
by Samuel D. Gruber

In November 2016, I was in Berlin for a few days and had the chance to visit more Jewish and Holocaust-related historical and commemorative sites than usual. I've already posted about the Jewish cemetery on Grosse Hamburger Strasse and the monument and burial section at the Weissensee Cemetery for Jewish soldiers who died in World War I. Here's information on a lesser known commemorative site.

The domed synagogue at Münchener Straße 37 in the Schöneberg section of Berlin, designed by Jewish architect Max Fraenkel (1856-1926), was dedicated in 1910 and was at the center of a heavily Jewish neighborhood around Bayerischer Platz.  It was looted but not burned on Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938), but was subsequently damaged by aerial bombing during the war years, and  torn down in 1956. The synagogue, which was a transitional structure between historicism and modernism, was notable for its large dome, and as one of the more architecturally distinctive buildings in the largely residential neighborhood. The composer Kurt Weill had a job as the synagogue choir conductor for a few months in 1921. 

Today, there is a part of a school building on the synagogue site, but the synagogue is remembered in the neighborhood in various ways. Each memorial corresponds to a particular phase of Berlin's facing the past and acknowledge the Shoah. There is an official abstract street level monument (1960s), a student-built collaborative memorial (1990s) and recently an extensive photo exhibit underground in the nearby U-Bahn station.

At the school, the original synagogue outline is remembered through garden design and in 1994-95 students erected a memorial brick wall on the school grounds to remember local Jews who lived in Berlin-Schöneberg. According to school officials,"the idea was based on the artist Horst Hoheisel from Kassel who gave stimulus on his "memorial from down below" in the framework of the 6th grade teaching lesson "National Socialism".

Berlin, Germany. Löcknitz Primary School on site of the synagogue at Münchener Straße 37. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016.

In front of the school and near the street is a more traditional monument, designed in a cubist style by Gerson Fehrenbach in 1963. It declares: "Hier stand der 1909 erbauten synagoge der jüdischen Gemeinde" (Here stood the Synagogue of the Jewish Community built in 1909).

Berlin, Germany. Monument to destroyed at synagogue at Münchener Straße 37. Gerson Fehrenbach, arch., 1963. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016.

Berlin, Germany. Monument to destroyed at synagogue at Münchener Straße 37. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016.

A plaque beneath gives further information about the fate of the building.  

Hier stand von 1909-1956 eine Synagoge. Sie wurde während der Reichspogromnacht
am 9. Nov. 1938 wegen ihrer Lage in einem
Wohnhaus nicht zerstört.
Nach der Vertreibung und Vernichtung
der jüdischen Mitbürgerinnen und Mitbürger
durch die Nationalsozialisten verlor sie
ihre Funktion und wurde 1956 abgerissen.”

In the nearby U-Bahn station there is a extensive photo exhibition on the history of the neighborhood. Since it was a heavily Jewish district in the interwar period, there is are many images of the synagogue and of prominent Jews who lived nearby. When I visited the station in November 2016, the former synagogue - already destroyed once - was suffering the indignity of having a temporary construction barrier interrupting the view of its full facade.
 

Berlin, Germany. images of the former Münchener Straße 37 on view in the Bayerischer Platz U-Bahn station, with a construction barrier further "destroying" the synagogue today. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016

Berlin, Germany. Image of the memorial wall constricted by local students on the site the former Münchener Straße 37. Photo on view in the Bayerischer Platz U-Bahn station. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016

Berlin, Germany. Image of the memorial wall constricted by local students on the site the former Münchener Straße 37. Photo on view in the Bayerischer Platz U-Bahn station. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016.

Bayerischer Platz neighborhood, including Münchener Straße, is also the location of the noteworthy "Places of Remembrance," (Orte des Erinnerns) project designed by artists Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock and installed in 1993.  The memorial, which consists of 80 signs which flatly state the dates and essence of laws promulgated by the Nazis in the 1930s to curb the rights of Jews.  This project remains one of the most thought provoking Holocaust commemorative installations anywhere - if one takes the time to look.

Berlin, Germany. Bayerischer Platz and "Places of Remembrance," (Orte des Erinnerns) project designed by Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016.

ABerlin, Germany. Bayerischer Platz and "Places of Remembrance," (Orte des Erinnerns) project designed by Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016.

Berlin, Germany. Bayerischer Platz and "Places of Remembrance," (Orte des Erinnerns) project designed by Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2016.

From Crete to Minnesota we Read Psalm 118: 20 “This is the Gate of the Lord into Which the Righteous Shall Enter”

Virginia, Minnesota. B'nai Abraham Synagogue. Inscription on Entrance Stained Glass:

זֶה-הַשַּׁעַר לַיהוָה; צַדִּיקִים, יָבֹאוּ בוֹ.

Psalm 118: 20 “This is gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter”

Recently ISJM member Marilyn Chiat wrote to report continuing progress on the restoration of small but elegant Iron Range synagogue of B'nai Abraham in Virginia, Minnesota, which will celebrate its centennial this year (there will be major event in July 2010), and which has been saved from destruction after its closure in the 1990s by a band of dedicated volunteers in the town and statewide. The synagogue is the last intact Jewish house of worship in this part of Minnesota – where once there were several small and hardy Jewish communities serving the intense Iron Ore industry and its related services. The Friends of B'nai Abraham have recently received about $50,000 in new grants which will go a long way toward completing the project which has been in progress for many years.

(See earlier blogpost about this building)

Perhaps the most notable feature of the B’nai Abraham is its remarkable set of stained glass windows. Gradually these windows have been cleaned and are being restored. The process is now more than halfway complete. As cleaning progresses, more window details are revealed, as well their original vibrant colors.

Marilyn wrote to say that cleaning window panels in the entrance doors has shown the original Hebrew inscription in glass: זֶה-הַשַּׁעַר לַיהוָה; צַדִּיקִים, יָבֹאוּ בוֹ (see photo above) – a well known passage from Psalm 118 sung during the Hallel service. Marilyn was familiar with the Verse 20 "This is God's gate into which the righteous shall enter," but asked how frequently it is used to adorn synagogue.

In fact, Psalm 118:20 is one of the most common passages found on synagogues, and it has adorned synagogues for centuries, and can be found from Iran to Greece to Poland to Minnesota. There is no compendium that I know of the tracks the use of particular scriptural passages and other texts in synagogues – but a quick look through my notes and a Google search turned up many diverse examples of Psalm 118:20 (I’ll soon post of a list of these).

Hania, Crete (Greece). Entrance gate to Etz Hayyim Synagogue courtyard (after restoration).
Photo courtesy of Nikos Stavroulakis

Coincidentally, the instance with which I am most familiar is on the gateway into the synagogue enclosure of Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Crete, the very building that was attacked twice by arsonists last month, and for which this ISJM and this blog are helping by raising sums for repair. The before and after photos of this gateway are emblematic of the success of the 1990s synagogue restoration project. Thinking of these two synagogues thousands of miles apart, but each greeting the worshipper and visitor with the same words, made me consider their different historic circumstances (on the inscriptions of Etz Hayyim click here).

Etz Hayyim was built as a (Saint Catherine's) church, but centuries ago it was given to Hania’s Jews for a synagogue, when Venetian (Christian) rule of the island ended. Much later, it‘s congregation perished when they were deported by the Nazis, and their transport ship was subsequently sunk – all lives lost. The building fell into ruin and by the 1990s was home only to chickens and trash. The hard work and devotion of Nikos Stavoulakis and scores of local and international supporters brought life – Jewish life – to this ruin once again, but Etz Hayyim has also served since it restoration as a center of religious and philosophical contact and discussion for people of many faiths. Nikos has choosen to interpret “righteousness” broadly – something the arsonists clearly could not tolerate or understand.

B’nai Abraham’s history and its transformations are less dramatic, and it is witness mostly to stories of tolerance and success. Its demise as a synagogue was due to voluntary migration of Jews to bigger and generally more prosperous centers, not forced deportation. Still, as a place of memory and history it plays similar role on Iron Range to Etz Hayyim in Hania. In Virginia, Minnesota, the righteous will also be broadly defined and I think those many Jews and Christians who have labored to save this place can enter through the newly restored doors with pride and confidence.

Unfortunately, in America, too, they must be vigilant and learn from Hania’s experience. Every restoration budget needs to include stained glass window restoration – but sadly – also an up-to-date security system.