Jewish Quarter, Courtyards and Art Tour

Come along and explore an area that despite its tragic past is today is brimming with vitality thanks to a vibrant arts scene.

There has been a Jewish community in Berlin ever since the city began to be settled in the late 12th century. In the coming centuries, like most Berliners, they thrived or suffered, facing occasional bouts of persecution but they had to wait until 1812 to be allowed to practise any profession that they wished to. By the time the Nazis came to power in 1933, there were 160,000 Jews in the city – 12 years later, following Germany’s defeat in the war, barely 1,200 remained.

This tour will touch on themes such as Kristallnacht, the notorious Night of Broken Glass, the Wannsee Conference that put in motion the Nazis’ ‘final solution’ and the remarkable Rosenstrasse protest by the non-Jewish wives of Jewish men that saved their husbands’ lives.

Our first stop on this tour will be the Berlin Jewish Museum, which provides a comprehensive insight into the history and culture of the Jewish community in Berlin. The museum's exhibition showcases the achievements and contributions of Jews to German society, while also covering the devastating events of the Holocaust.

Visit memorials and locations associated with the Jewish community in the Spandauer Vorstadt, and learn about its tragic history and how it has been regenerated by the development of concepts such as the ‘Gallery Mile’ of Auguststrasse after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The adjacent Scheunenviertel area was where the poor Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe lived in slum conditions.



Starting point: LANDMARK - Jewish Museum, Berlin,  - (Longitude: 13,395447, Latitude: 52,502312)
Ending point: Same - Same as Starting Point