Munich - Reichenbachstrasse [München / Muenchen]

Summary: During the early 20th century, Jews from Eastern Europe (Ostjuden) constituted approximately one-fourth of Munich’s Jewish community. In 1921, their two major congregations, Agudas Achim and Linath Hazedek, established a synagogue on Reichenbachstrasse. In 1929, in response to the growing population of Eastern European Jews (approximately 2,300), the community decided to build a new house of worship; designed by Gustav Meyerstein and inaugurated on September 5, 1931, the new synagogue seated 330 men and 220 women. The architect, opting for an inconspicuous synagogue facade, did not include the customary tablets of the law. The small rear window, which faced a brook, allowed congregants to recite the Tashlich prayer on Rosh Hashanah. (The Tashlich prayer must be recited near a natural water source.) The synagogue was set on fire on Pogrom Night (November 1938), but the fire department extinguished the blaze to prevent damage to the neighboring structures. The building was subsequently “aryanized” by a German company for use as a storage site. On May 20, 1947, a new synagogue, very similar in design to the destroyed house of worship and located only a few blocks away from its original site, was inaugurated in Munich.

Author / Sources: Fred Gottlieb