The Potsdam Synagogue Center is a building in Potsdam‘s city center for the local Jewish community. It is located at Schloßstraße 8, opposite the Film Museum. Following the Small Synagogue of the European Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Potsdam’s New Palace, which opened in August 2021, this is the second new Jewish house of worship in Brandenburg’s state capital since the Shoah.
The state of Brandenburg provided the land for the construction of the synagogue, on which an office building of the Potsdam water management authority stood between 1971 and 2011 and which had been lying fallow since then.
The specially founded building association Neue Synagoge Potsdam e.V. (“New Synagogue Potsdam Association”) originally estimated the construction costs at five million euros. To enable rapid completion, the initial plan was for the state to pre-finance the project, but the construction and operation of the synagogue were ultimately to be financed through donations and the association’s own funds or a supporting foundation. Later, it was decided to realize the building project as a state-funded construction project.
An EU-wide architectural competition for a new synagogue and an adjoining community center took place between October 2008 and September 2010. Over 150 architectural firms participated with designs for the new synagogue. After an initial selection, 30 firms remained, 26 of which submitted concrete plans and visualizations. From these 26 designs, the jury selected three prize winners and three honorable mentions. Following the jury’s recommendation, the design by the Berlin-based architectural firm Haberland, which won first prize in 2009, served as the basis for construction planning. Building permission for the revised design was granted on October 1, 2010.
The building faced the challenge of integrating into the historically sensitive urban space between the New and Old Markets during the planning phase. Originally, it was scheduled for completion by April 14, 2012, the 20th anniversary of the Brandenburg Constitution. However, construction could not begin because the Jewish communities involved could not approve the submitted design, leading the state government to halt the project in 2011. Opponents of the architect’s design founded the Potsdam Synagogue Community in 2012, which participated in subsequent discussions. This was followed by years of negotiations.
Potsdam’s Old Synagogue, located on the east side of Wilhelmplatz (renamed Platz der Einheit in the 1950s), was consecrated on June 17, 1903. Its construction began in 1760 with the Jewish community renting premises from the shoemaker Schultze. When these premises became too small, initiatives began in 1766 to find a larger community center. This was located in Potsdam at Plantage No. 1 (on what would later become Wilhelmplatz). This was the house of community member Moses Lippmann. The house was consecrated as early as 1767. After further renovations and expansion, this house of worship was once again available to the community in 1802. By 1885, this building was so dilapidated that a new one had to be built. The plans, in the Neo-Baroque style, were provided by the architect Otto Kerwien and approved by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1901. In the autumn of 1900, following a celebratory church service, the demolition of the old synagogue began. Construction of the new building commenced in the spring of 1901, and the cornerstone was laid on February 20, 1903. After the organ was installed, it was ceremonially consecrated on June 17, 1903. This synagogue offered 154 seats for male and 162 seats for female members of the congregation. The organ was played by the organist of St. Nicholas Church during services. The synagogue was severely damaged during the November Pogrom of 1938 and almost completely destroyed in an air raid in April 1945. The ruins were demolished in 1957 to make way for residential development.
[caption id="attachment_216502" align="aligncenter" width="421"] Félix Nadar (1820-1910) portraits Jules Verne[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Jules Gabriel Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publ...
