Jüdisches Waisenhaus Prenzlauer Berg
The Jewish Orphanage
The building of the Baruch-Auerbach School for Orphans, boys and girls, was severely damaged in the Second World War and completely demolished in the 50’s. Today a plaque reminds people of this Jewish welfare institute and the fate of the children and their teachers.
The teacher and welfare worker Baruch Auerbach (1793-1864) founded 1833 a Jewish orphanage for boys on the Rosenstrasse 12 which was financed by donations from the community. First there were only four boarders but in 1943 the first two girls were admitted. All in all, 800 children found a home there during the course of its history. In 1853 the orphanage moved to the Oranienburger Strasse 38 and in 1897 into the newly erected building complex on Schönhauser Allee 162. The architects of the u-shaped building were Jakob Sedelmeyer and the main architect of the Jewish community of Berlin, Johann Hoeniger (1850-1913) who also designed the buildings on the Jewish Cemetery and the synagogue on the Rykestrasse. The children's home comprised of a house for boys and a house for girls as well as a gym. In front of the main gate stood a monument of the Emperor Friedrich. In 1942 the National socialists closed the home and forced the 89 children and their teachers onto trains to Riga where they were murdered.