Moses Mendelssohn Jewish High School

The Jüdische Gymnasium Moses Mendelssohn in Berlin-Mitte is a state-recognized private school of the Jüdische Gemeinde zu Berlin. With lessons in Hebrew and Jewish religious education, kosher lunch and the celebration of Jewish holidays, the school wants to set an example for living Judaism in Berlin's educational landscape. At the same time, the school is open to members of all denominations and thus seeks to promote social integration and acceptance.

The eventful history of Jewish learning in the Großen Hamburger Straße dates back to 1861. In that year, the Jewish community began construction of the building, which is still standing today, and two years later the boys' school moved into it. Almost 70 years later, the boys' school was merged with the girls' school in 1931. In 1942, the school was closed by the National Socialist Reich Security Main Office and henceforth used as a deportation camp until the end of the war. 

After the building housed a vocational school during the GDR period, the building returned to the ownership of Berlin's growing Jüdische community after the fall of the Berlin Wall. With its move in 1992, the Jüdische Oberschule finally succeeded in linking up with the history of Jüdische education in Gro&szlig Hamburger Stra&szlig. Since 2012, the Gymnasium has also been following in the tradition of the Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, whose initiative led to the founding of the first Jewish free school in Germany in 1778. Mendelssohn made a sustained effort to ensure that poorer Jewish children, whose education was often limited to Torah and Talmud, also had access to secular education.