Germany Guide
Munich
Hauptsynagoge
Address: St-Jakobs-Platz
Opening time: Guided tours Sun– Thurs at 6pm
Price: Free
Telephone: 089/20 24 0 01 00
Facing the Stadtmuseum across St-Jakobs-Platz is the striking new Hauptsynagoge, a starkly elegant, modern stone-and-mesh cube that opened in 2006 as a fitting replacement for the grandiose old synagogue destroyed in the summer of 1938 – several months before Kristallnacht. It's one of the largest – as well as the most visually striking – new synagogues in Europe, and serves a community of nine thousand, the second largest in Germany after Berlin. Next to it is the Jüdisches Museum (Jewish Museum; Tues– Sun 10am–6pm; €6), which as well as a permanent exhibition on the history of Jewish Munich and on the Jewish faith, often has fascinating temporary exhibitions on such topics as expulsion, persecution and exile.