berlin

Gedenkstätte
Große Hamburger Straße
Before 1939, this was one of the
most important Jewish streets,
with several Jewish schools, the
oldest Jewish cemetery in Berlin
and an old people’s home. The
latter achieved tragic fame during
the Nazi period – the SS used it
as a detention centre for Berlin
Jews before transporting them
to the concentration camps. A
simple monument commemorates
thousands of Jews who
were sent to their death from
here. To the left of the home
is a Jewish school, on the site
of an earlier school founded in
1778 by the Enlightenment
philosopher Moses Mendelssohn
(1729–86). To the right of the
monument is the Jewish cemetery,
where some 12,000 Berlin
Jews were buried between 1672
and 1827. In 1943, the Nazis
almost completely destroyed the
cemetery. Only a few Baroque
tombs, or masebas, survived;
these are now embedded into
the small original cemetery
wall. The place presumed to be
Moses Mendelssohn’s tomb is
marked by a new monument.
d Große Hamburger Str. • Map J5
Postfuhramt
The richly ornamented Postfuhramt
(post
office transport
department)
dates back to
the 19th century.
It is now an
exhibition hall
for alternative
photography
and art shows
and a centre
for perform-
Frieze on the Postfuhramt
façade
ance art.
d Oranienburger
Str. 35 • Map J4
A Day in
Scheunenviertel
Morning
Take the S-Bahn to Friedrichstraße
and explore this
road, Berlin’s former entertainment
district. Walk
north along the street up
to Reinhardstraße, and
turn left here towards
Bertolt-Brecht-Platz. Continue
south to Albrechtstraße
to the Berliner
Ensemble (see p126).
Once you have admired
the theatre where the
great playwright used to
work, you could make a
detour to visit his home,
Brecht-Weigel-Gedenkstätte
in Chausseestraße.
The best way to get there
is on foot – walk along
Chausseestraße. If you
remain in Friedrichstraße
and turn right behind Friedrichstadtpalast
into Oranienburger
Straße (see
p123), you will get to the
heart of the fashionable
Scheunenviertel. At the
corner of the street rises
the arts centre Tacheles,
and a few steps to the
east the shiny golden
dome of the Neue Synagoge
will come into view
(see pp45 and 123).
Afternoon
Before exploring the Scheunenviertel
district, you
should take some refreshments;
not far from the
Synagogue is Café Oren
(see p129). Walk along
Tucholskystraße, then turn
right into Auguststraße.
Here you will find some
of the most attractive
courtyards, for example
Kunsthof at the corner
of Gartenstraße. Return
along Auguststraße to
Gedenkstätte Große
Hamburger Straße and
the Hackesche Höfe (see
p123) to shop and for an
evening meal.
Around Town – Central Berlin: Scheunenviertel
125