Neighbour Moses – Jewish Secondary Schools in Berlin

At regular intervals, lively voices drift into the tranquil Courtyard 5 of the Hackesche Höfe. The playground and sports grounds of two Jewish secondary schools are only a few metres away. The Höfe and the schools quite literally turn their backs on one another. The schools are housed in a substantial building on Große Hamburger Straße. It was constructed in 1906 – at the same time as the Hackesche Höfe.

The schools clearly do not have to worry about a lack of applicants. At an open house on a Sunday in January, there is a steady stream of visitors, mainly families looking for a school for their children. Throughout the building, teachers present their subjects, teaching materials are laid out, a student choir sings in the large historic assembly hall, and one floor up, homemade cakes are on offer in the café.

The Jewish High School Moses Mendelssohn and the Regina Jonas Rabbinical Secondary School are state-recognised private schools run by the Jewish Community of Berlin. Around 550 Jewish and non-Jewish students attend the schools. Although the majority of students have a Jewish background, this is not a prerequisite for admission. Some students come from families of non-German origin. In the early years after the new beginning, many came from the former Soviet Union. Today, children of Israeli expatriates also appear to be among the target groups – much Hebrew can be heard at the open day.

All students take part in Jewish religious education, learn Hebrew and observe Jewish festivals and holidays. Lunch is kosher. Alongside Jewish tradition, lessons also address the significance of Israel for the Jewish people. In the school courtyard, the German and Israeli flags stand side by side.

The schools also feel committed to the values of the Enlightenment embodied by their namesake Moses Mendelssohn: “To seek truth, to love beauty, to will the good, to do the best – that is the destiny of humankind.” A bronze plaque at the entrance and a bust in the administrative wing commemorate the philosopher after whom the school is named.

In the 18th century, German Jews sought recognition and integration into German society. Many realised that education was the key to social advancement. Until then, boys in the Jewish community had learned little more than basic reading, writing and arithmetic alongside the study of religious texts. A circle of friends around the Berlin philosopher Moses Mendelssohn wanted to provide boys with a broader education and founded a Jewish free school in 1778. School fees were graded and waived entirely for some students. This allowed boys from impoverished families access to education. Even then, the school was open to non-Jewish students. Girls, however, had to wait much longer for access to a good education.

In the 19th century, Berlin grew rapidly. The former Spandauer Vorstadt became part of the city centre and the preferred residential area for Berlin’s Jewish population. Around the Jewish cemetery, which had existed since the 17th century, numerous institutions of the Jewish community were established, including the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße, inaugurated in 1866. As the Jewish population grew, so did the number of students. The Jewish community responded by constructing a new, larger school building. In 1863, the boys’ school of the Jewish Community opened on Große Hamburger Straße and was attended by around 670 students in the following years. The present building dates from 1906. From 1931 onwards, girls were also taught there.

In 1932, 470 students attended the school; two years later, the number had risen to over 1,000. After the National Socialists came to power, many Jewish parents wanted to protect their children from harassment at other schools. Class sizes never fell below 50 students, recalls former pupil and author Inge Deutschkron. There was constant coming and going among teachers and students: some emigrated, others arrived from non-Jewish schools. The school increasingly focused on knowledge that students could use after emigrating – above all foreign languages.

From 1941 onwards, the first students were deported with their families to the extermination camps. Anyone could be next. In 1942, the school was closed on the orders of the Gestapo. On the last day of school, the final headmaster played Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony on the piano. He was later murdered in Theresienstadt. After more than 160 years, the school’s history came to an end – for the time being. The Gestapo converted the building into a collection camp for Berlin’s Jews on their way to their deaths.

During the GDR era, the building housed a vocational school. Given the small number of Jewish residents, state-promoted atheism and latent antisemitic anti-Zionism, the Jewish community in East Berlin lived very much in the shadows. Yet the final GDR government decided to allow Jews from the collapsing Soviet Union to resettle in Germany. This decision remained in force after reunification. The subsequent wave of immigration revitalised Jewish communities across Germany. The desire and need for schools conveying Jewish traditions grew.

After the end of the GDR, the building on Große Hamburger Straße returned to the ownership of the Jewish Community. It was initially used as a primary school and, from 1993, as a secondary school with both grammar and intermediate tracks. It began with just 27 students. The secondary school later became the Jewish High School Moses Mendelssohn. Since 2020, there has also been an Integrated Secondary School (ISS), educating all students together from grades seven to ten. In 2023, the ISS was named the Regina Jonas Rabbinical Secondary School. Regina Jonas was the world’s first female rabbi. She grew up in the neighbourhood of the school in what is now Torstraße in the early 20th century and preached in several Berlin synagogues during the 1930s and 1940s.

In addition to the curriculum, one aspect distinguishes the Jewish secondary schools from “ordinary” schools: the extensive security measures. Jewish schools are among the most heavily protected places in the city.