Remembering the Jewish revolutionaries of 1848
The social unrest on the eve of the March Revolution of 1848 did not stop at the Prussian Jews. Only a quarter of them had been granted citizenship by then, they were not allowed to hold professorships in most university subjects, they were excluded from most state offices and although they were allowed to fight and die as ordinary soldiers in the army, they were denied promotion to officer.
Image gallery
Erinnerung an den Befreiungskampf in der verhängnisvollen Nacht 18.-19. März 1848
No wonder, then, that the democratic ideas of the March Revolution fell on fertile ground among Prussian Jews: Moritz Steinschneider, one of the most important bibliographers and orientalists of his time, fought on the barricades himself. Rabbi Michael Sachs, together with Catholic and Protestant clergymen, held a funeral oration for the March Revolution victims on the Gendarmenmarkt on 22 March 1848. The journeyman printer Julius Brill was one of the few Jews and workers to be elected to the Prussian National Assembly before he was finally forced into exile.
To commemorate the March Revolution, the New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum Foundation offers a thematic guided tour through Mitte on Jewish people in the "German March" on the Sundays with free admission (April to July).
Places are limited to 20 participants.
Additional information
Meeting point: Vor dem Museumseingang Neue Synagoge Berlin in der Oranienburger Str. 28-30, 10117 Berlin
Price info: Anmeldung erforderlich
Booking: info@centrumjudaicum.de
