The history of the Jewish community in Magdeburg dates back to the Middle Ages. Since the year 957 there are records of the presence of Jewish families in this city. The community must have grown and prospered already in that distant period, since there is evidence of the existence of a Jewish cemetery in the town since the year 1012.
Thanks to census data, we know that by 1840, Magdeburg had a Jewish community of around 600 members. This figure would grow in the following decades, reaching 2,000 Jewish inhabitants in 1900 and 2,356 in 1925.
Despite being an important community, the Jews of Magdeburg, the community always accounted for less than 1% of the total population of the city, which meant maintaining the average for the entire country. For example, in 1925, Magdeburg had 294,000 inhabitants.
Despite its small size, the Jewish community prospered. This allowed him to build a great synagogue in 1857. This was radically remodeled in an arabesque style in 1897, following the artistic canons of the time.
After the Nazi regime came to power, the Jewish community of Magdeburg was attacked, but survived almost intact until 1938. During the night of broken glass, on November 9, 1938, the synagogue was stormed and burned and the Jews of the city deported to different concentration camps.
After World War II, only 119 Jews from this town had survived the Nazi horror. To commemorate his loss, in November 1988, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass, a small memorial was inaugurated on the site of the city's old synagogue.
How to get to the Old Synagogue of Magdeburg
The memorial in remembrance of the old Magdeburg synagogue is located in the center of the city. To go there, you can take the tram to the Alter Markt stop, a few meters from the memorial.