Jewish Germany
The first written mention of a Jewish presence in Germany dates from an edict of the Emperor Constantine in 321 A.D. 
Until the 12th century, relations between the ruling authorities and Jews were essentially cordial. Religious and cultural life in Spire, Mayence and Worms flourished and scholars like Rachi and Gershom ben Yehuda moved to Germany to teach Jewish law and creed.
The emancipation of German Jews ending their ghettoization began in the 17th century and attained its apogee under Kaiser Wilhelm. In 1871 Germany had 512,000 Jews; in 1933, they still numbered 503,000, representing the third largest community in Europe after Poland and Russia. German Jews not only created the country’s leading banks, but their cultural impact was profound and internationally renowned: Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Hannah Arendt, Arnold Schönberg, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder are just some of the persons who were forced to emigrate with the rise of Nazism.
Today, the Jewish community of Germany has over 100,000 members and represents the fastest growing community in Western Europe. Reunited Germany has chosen to assume its historical crimes and to present them fully to the international visitor. Yet, the history of Jews Germany did not end in 1945 and there are clear signs of cultural renewal. The aim of European Jewish Tours is to show how the tragedy of the past can lead to a hopeful present and future.
Here are some examples of the customized luxury tours that European Jewish Tours is organizing in and around Germany.
Jewish Berlin
The importance of Berlin in modern Jewish history is hard to estimate. Berlin's stature as a leading world capital-its renown in the early 20th century for scientific accomplishment and artistic experimentation-was powered to a great extent by Jewish initiative.
Yet, it was also in Berlin, that this extraordinary and eminent society, was obliterated, for it was in the German capital that hosted Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.
Today, in reunited Berlin, with the fastest growing Jewish population in Western Europe, the rich Jewish history and heritage of the city is coming back to life thanks to the initiative of the German government and private funding.
With European Jewish Tours, our guides will show you the old Jewish quarter in the former East Berlin, starting with the New Synagogue Museum in Oranienburgerstrasse, once the site of the largest and most beautiful synagogue in Germany.
In Schoeneberg, you will discover a conceptual Holocaust memorial titled "Places of Memories" that traces the Nazi regime's anti-Jewish laws from the first ordinances forbidding them to sing in choirs to the final order urging the destruction of all files involving anti-Semitic activity. Still, our tours are not limited to memorials to a "lost" community.
With European Jewish Tours, you will also discover Berlin's thriving synagogues and Jewish day schools, including the first learning center in East Berlin built since the war, the Lauder Judisches Lehrhaus, funded by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation and Berlin's Jewish community.
You'll find this spirit of renewal visiting one of the world's leading art collections, the Berggruen Museum, with major works by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Klee, Braque and Matisse, donated to Berlin by Heinz Berggruen, the renowned Jewish art collector and dealer.
A trip to Berlin’s world famous Jewish Museum is the ideal compliment to a tour of Berlin’s Jewish quarter. The architecture of the Jewish Museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is itself a masterful expression of German-Jewish History which drew hundreds of thousands of visitors before the exhibition was even installed. This tour of the Jewish Museum deepens the picture of Jewish Berlin that emerges in the Jewish quarter through its award-winning exhibitions. You’ll learn more about the story of Jews and non-Jews in Germany at the German History Museum which traces the history of Berlin since its founding.
Younger people and families will be particularly moved by the Anne Frank Zentrum in Berlin, with its new permanent exhibition: Anne Frank, Here and Now. The exhibition covers in great detail the life of Anne Frank, her diary and its relevance today. A must!
Whether it's the personal history of past and present Jewish Berliners, or the works of leading modern Jewish artists, European Jewish Tours provides an unexpected eye-opener to the German capital.
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Jewish Frankfurt
A free city of the Germanic Empire, Frankfurt began to welcome Jews as early at 1150. From 1460 until their Emancipation, Jews were confined to the Judengasse (“Street of the Jews”), that would soon resemble an overpopulated ghetto. It was in this very street where the money lender Meyer Amschel Rothschild founded his banking dynasty with his 18 children eventually spreading out through Europe to create different branches of the Rothschild bank.
European Jewish Tours’ visit of Frankfort includes the Jüduisches Museum Frankfurt am Main, open since 1988 in the former 19th century home owned by the Rothschilds. This museum documents the Jewish heritage of Frankfurt from the Middle Ages until the 20th century, and also offers an informative exhibition on Jewish life and rituals. On your tour of the Judengasse Museum, you will discover the life of the Jewish ghetto from the 15th until the 19th century. Also on the program is the Westend Synagogue—the only one to have survived Kristallnacht—and the Old Jewish Cemetery and Neuer B Memorial, whose 11,000 small blocks set into the wall feature the names of every Jew deported from Frankfurt.
It is also possible to organize a daytrip from Frankfurt to the medieval city of Worms, home of the matchless 11th century Biblical scholar, Rashi. Worms is a site of eventful history for both Christians and Jews; today, its importance to the Jewish world is attested to by its nickname, “Little Jerusalem.” Experience a walking tour of this landmark in Jewish culture, visiting the restored Rashi Museum (“Raschihaus”), as well as the Holy Sands Cemetery, the oldest preserved Jewish burial place in Europe.
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Jewish Heidelburg, Rothenburg and Augsburg
After a brief overview of this picturesque city, we can arrange for you to have a fascinating Question and Answer session with the “Hochschule für Jüdische Studien” (College of Jewish Studies), run by the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Next, on to Rothenburg, for a walking tour of its historic center. Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, one of Europe’s most important Jewish scholars, settled here in 1246. You will see the restored “Jewish Dancing Hall”—the heart of the Jewish community since 1390. Indeed, the 14th century Judengasse is in one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval Jewish quarters. Later, continue to Augsburg and visit its Art Nouveau Synagogue and Jewish Museum. En route to Munich, drive along “The Romantic Road,” one of the world’s most stunningly beautiful journeys.
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Jewish Munich and Dachau
Jews have been part of Munich life since medieval times. In 1882, the Bavarian king Ludwig II granted the Jewish community a site in the town center, so that they could erect their new central synagogue.
For the German Jews, the Nazi regime meant discrimination, calumny, deportation and extermination. However, since World War II, the Jews have slowly but surely returned to Munich. On November 10, 2006 Munich’s Jewish community celebrated the reopening of the city’s main synagogue, destroyed by Hitler in 1938. Funding for the synagogue, which cost about $72 million, was provided by the city, the state of Bavaria and Munich’s Jewish community of 9,200. The construction of the Jewish Center which opened in 2007 on the Jakobsplatz demonstrates the revival of a thriving community.
On our tour of Munich, you will see Maximilian Street, the English Gardens, and the White Rose Memorial, honoring German students who bravely resisted the Nazis. Lunch is on your own in the famous “Viktualienmarkt,” where even kosher “Weisswurst” can be found. Next on the tour is a visit of the beautiful, recently inaugurated Jewish Community Center and Synagogue in the heart of the city. The Center includes a stunning Jewish Museum that boasts precious Jewish illuminated manuscripts on loan from the Bavarian State Library.
This visit to Munich can be expanded to include the Memorial Site of the former concentration camp of Dachau. This former concentration camp site, with its Jewish Memorial Chapel, stands as an eternal reminder to Germans and the world: “Never Again!” This Dachau tour covers the 12 years of the concentration camps existence using personal accounts from survivors, taking advantage of museum displays and of course the buildings and grounds themselves. The aim of this program is to gain a fuller understanding of this tragic history.
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