Landeshauptstadt Dresden - www.dresden.de

Address: https://www.dresden.de/en/05/036/Jewish_community.php Last revision: 25.06.2015 10:15:46 Uhr Printed on: 25.04.2024 21:52:04 Uhr

The Jewish community in Dresden

The Jewish community in Dresden can look back to a history of more than 160 years. Its roots actually reach back into the 13th century, but all the Jews living in the Saxon region were banished from the country between 1500 and 1700.

It was only in the 19th century that Jewish life gradually began to develop once more. In 1837, the passing of a law granting Jewish inhabitants of Saxony equality and full citizen rights enabled the Dresden community to emerge from the shadows.

It grew continuously up to 1933, and its members made important contributions to many aspects of social life in the city. At its height, the community counted almost 6,000 members.

The majority of the Dresden survivors of the Holocaust ventured a cautious new beginning together with former concentration camp prisoners. In 1950, the community was given a provisional synagogue: the former mourning hall by the New Jewish Cemetery in Fiedlerstrasse was used for Jewish services up to 2001.

Around 1950, the Jewish community had grown to some 200 members, but this number gradually declined again over the years due to aging, until only 60 were left in 1989 - despite the constant presence of religious and cultural activity.

A new process of growth began in 1990, not least thanks to the migration of Jewish families from the former Soviet Union. The Jewish community in Dresden presently has almost 700 members.

If you are interested in a guided tour of the synagogue or the Old Jewish Cemetery, please feel free to contact the association »Hatikva - Hope, Education and Meeting Centre for Jewish History and Culture in Saxony«.