Old Jewish Cemetery (Alter Jüdischer Friedhof)
The Basics
During WWII, the destroyed cemetery was used for air-raid shelters, as a holding point for Jews awaiting deportation, and then, after the war, as a mass grave. Only around 19 of the original graves were preserved, and these can be seen near the interior southern wall. Memorial plaques commemorate the notable figures originally buried here, and there a bronze memorial sculpture by Will Lammert, installed in 1985. Mendelssohn’s grave has been restored with a replica headstone.
Due to its use as a mass grave site, the cemetery is now also the resting place of many non-Jewish soldiers and local civilians killed during the war. A stone plaque on the far wall of the cemetery commemorates these burials.
Things to Know Before You Go
There is no admission fee to enter the cemetery.
The cemetery offers wheelchair-accessible paths.
Information panels have text in German, English, and Hebrew.
A ritual washbasin is located at the site’s entrance.
How to Get There
The cemetery is located on the bustling Grosse Hamburger Strasse in the Mitte neighborhood. The nearest U-Bahn stations are Weinmeisterstrasse and Rosenthaler Platz. A variety of buses and trams, and the S-Bahn train, also stop at the Hackescher Markt station, located to the south of the site.
Trip ideas
When to Get There
The cemetery is open to the public at all times. Many travelers visit the site on a Jewish heritage walking tour that includes Berlin’s Jewish quarter and landmarks such as the Missing House, the New Synagogue, and Museum Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind.
Visit the Missing House
After visiting the cemetery, walk down Grosse Hamburger Strasse to another historically significant site: the Missing House. This empty spot, where a residential building was destroyed during World War II, is now a memorial that draws visitors’ attention to the devastations of war. Plaques mounted on the walls of the neighboring buildings describe the lives of the original residents.
- Missing House
- Chamäleon Theater
- Anne Frank Centre (Anne Frank Zentrum)
- Otto Weidt Museum (Museum Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt)
- Hackesche Höfe
- Museum of Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind (Museum Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt)
- Hackescher Markt
- New Synagogue
- Pergamon Museum (Pergamonmuseum)
- Old National Gallery (Alte Nationalgalerie)
- Bode Museum
- Berlin Dungeon
- Museum Island (Museumsinsel)
- Neues Museum (New Museum)
- AquaDom & SEA LIFE® Berlin