New Synagogue (Berlin) in the Mitte district by Silva Wischeropp

About "New Synagogue (Berlin) in the Mitte district"

by Silva Wischeropp

About the artwork

This photograph was taken in the heart of Berlin, in the popular district of MITTE. It shows the New Synagogue in Oranienburg Straße in the popular, internationally popular former barn quarter.

The New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße in the Mitte district of Berlin is a building of outstanding importance for the history of Jews in Berlin and a listed building. It was inaugurated in 1866. The architects were Eduard Knoblauch and Friedrich August Stüler.
The remaining part of the building was reopened in 1995 after restoration work, but was not re-inaugurated. The building ensemble, currently also known as the Centrum Judaicum, is used as a cultural centre.

The Berlin Synagogue in Oranienburger Straße is the earliest example of the combination of a two-tower façade, dome and tripartite portal. The façade facing Oranienburger Strasse is richly articulated with moulded stone and terracotta, accentuated by coloured glazed bricks. The three-axis centre wing is flanked by projecting side risalits with domed, octagonal tower tops. The two kiosk and tempietto-style towers are each placed on square side risalits, whereby the small columns in front of the towers are in the Alhambra style. The façade is characterised by the motif of the three arches. This motif can be recognised both in the three-arcade entrance and in the three windows in the round arch style on the upper floor of the central wing, whose tracery is in turn divided into three arches. The tambour of the dome takes up the same motif, with small, three-part round-arched windows in the tambour. The tambour dome above the vestibule, covered with gilded ribs, is exactly 50.21 metres high at its highest point and forms the highlight of the building, visible from afar.