Ohel Jakob marks 20 years at the heart of Munich Jewish life
Monday 9th November 2026 on 13:01 in
Bavaria
Munich’s Ohel Jakob synagogue is marking its 20th anniversary with a ceremony on Monday, as Jewish institutions continue to face security threats, BR reports.
The synagogue and community centre stand at St. Jakob’s Square in central Munich. Israelite Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria president Charlotte Knobloch said its location carries a symbolic message: Jewish people belong in the middle of the city, not at its margins. She has described the building as both a visible Jewish presence and a promise of a Jewish future.
Guests expected at the anniversary ceremony include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder, state parliament president Ilse Aigner and Munich Mayor Dominik Krause.
The new synagogue was inaugurated in 2006. The date was chosen deliberately: during the November pogrom of 1938, the Nazis destroyed and set fire to the previous Ohel Jakob synagogue. A former liberal main synagogue in Munich had already been demolished on Adolf Hitler’s orders. The new complex cost between 57 million and 70 million euros. At its opening, Knobloch said it marked a new chapter in relations between Jews and non-Jews.
The anniversary comes as the synagogue and the community have repeatedly faced attacks and attempted attacks. A plot by militant neo-Nazis was foiled weeks before the building’s foundation stone was laid in 2003. The synagogue and surrounding grounds remain under constant police protection, as do Jewish institutions generally.
The situation has become particularly tense since October 7, 2023. Bavarian antisemitism commissioner Ludwig Spaenle has called it “alarming”, and figures from Germany’s Federal Interior Ministry show a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents and crimes since the Hamas attack on Israel. In summer 2025, hundreds of people formed a human chain around the synagogue in solidarity with the Jewish community during a demonstration by the group Palestine Speaks.
The new complex drew strong public interest from the start: 15,000 people visited the synagogue and community centre on its 2006 open day. BR is broadcasting the anniversary ceremony live from 4 pm on television and in the ARD Mediathek.