Oranienburger Strasse Berlin Fine Art Print

Oranienburger Strasse on a snowy winter day. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, this was the main Jewish area of Berlin. During the Nazi regime, all the Jewish institutions were closed, and the great majority of the area's Jewish residents were deported to their deaths in extermination camps in occupied Poland. The most notable building on Oranienburger Strasse is the New Synagogue (Neue Synagoge) - to the right of the photograph - which at the time of its opening in 1866 was the largest synagogue in Berlin. The synagogue was saved from destruction by the Nazis on Kristallnacht in 1938 by the actions of Otto Bellgardt, a local police officer, later covered up by his superior Wilhelm Krützfeld. The Synagogue was largely destroyed by Allied bombing in 1943, and most of the ruins were demolished in 1958 by the GDR authorities. The restored front section of the building was reopened in 1995 as a Jewish community centre also housing a synagogue and a museum. The photograph was exhibited during 13 personal photographic exhibitions "Berlin — the City of Change" within the framework of the Year of Germany in Russia. A winter photograph of Berlin.