The Jewish Berlin Free Walking Tour

Immerse yourself in the profound history of Berlin's Jewish community. Our experienced guide will lead you through the most significant sights, memorials, and monuments, offering insights into both past and present Jewish life. The guides leading this tour will be Jewish, and their offering of personal experiences living as Jews in Berlin is essential to the impact of this tour experience. We never cancel; tours run rain, hail or shine.

Berlin’s Jewish history begins around 800 years ago, and their contribution to Berlin’s growth as Prussia’s capital proved essential. By the 1800s Berlin would become the center of the Haskalah, or Jewish enlightenment. The freedom and openness of the 1920s Weimar Republic would set the scene for a Golden Age of German Jewry. By 1933, a community of 160,000 Jews called the city home.

Amidst this cultural flourishing, the ominous shadow of anti-Semitism loomed larger and larger. In the years preceding the Nazi rise to power, attacks against Jews intensified, casting a cloud over the once vibrant and diverse capitol. By 1945, only 8,000 Jews remained in what had been arguably the capital for European Jews just 12 years earlier. Thousands of Stoppelsteine or “stumbling stones” dot the city sidewalks, reminding us of the murdered Berliners.

Today, Berlin has seven synagogues, a Chabad educational center, many kosher restaurants and a growing observant Jewish community as well as a growing secular Israeli community. Sadly anti-semitism did not die with the Third Reich, and your guide is sure to speak about their experiences in Germany over the years, both heartwarming and at times shocking.

Our Jewish Berlin tour covers the most significant places and stories  You’ll visit the Hackesche Hofe, the New Synagogue, the Jewish Cemetery, the Otto Weidt House, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.