Rykestraße Synagogue (Berlin)

The Conservative synagogue on Rykestraße is the only remaining Jewish place of worship in the eastern part of the city. It was finally inaugurated in 1904 after a ten-month construction period and served as a meeting place and place of prayer primarily for Jews who had moved to Eastern Europe. Attached to it were several Jewish school institutions. The synagogue, located in the backyard, continued to function as such until 1940, when it was misused by the National Socialists as a storage facility, among other things. Two years earlier, it was set on fire during the Pogrom Night, but the fire was extinguished in time. After an extensive restoration, the house of worship could be reopened in 1953 and represented the center of East Berlin Jewry (contemporarily called "Temple of Peace") during the so-called Cold War. Several restorations and repairs followed. In 2007, the synagogue in Rykestraße celebrated its grand opening and now offers space for more than 1000 worshippers. The neo-romantic style, with brown bricks designed external facade represents a break with the elaborately designed interior. The interior of the synagogue is bright and flooded with light; the dominant colors are white, blue and gold. In the nearby Prenzlauer Berg Museum, the permanent exhibition provides information about the history of the building up to 1941.