• Exhibition »We Were Neighbours«
The exhibition »We Were Neighbours« in the Schöneberg City Hall remembers the borough's former Jewish residents who were expelled from their homes or murdered during the times of National Socialism.
Image: Berlin-Schöneberg, 1908, Viktoria-Luise-Platz, public domain
Berlin-Schöneberg, 1908, Viktoria-Luise-Platz, public domain

Image: Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, View of the exhibition, Thilo Rückeis
Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, View of the exhibition, Thilo Rückeis
After the foundation of the German Reich in 1871 its capital Berlin grew rapidly and spread into adjoining rural areas. Within a few decades in the second half of the 19th century Schöneberg turned from a small village into a densely populated and modern suburb of Berlin. New systematically laid out quarters for an affluent middle-class clientèle arose. The major new landmarks of Schöneberg were the underground, the Schöneberg City Hall and the Sportpalast. During these decades, many Jews moved to Schöneberg, particularly middle-class families. One of the most popular residential areas was the bourgeois Bayerische Viertel (Bavarian Quarter), colloquially referred to as the »jüdische Schweiz« (Jewish Switzerland) where many popular artists, scientists and merchants lived.
In 1920 Schöneberg became a borough of Greater Berlin. When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, more than 16,000 Jews lived in Schöneberg — more than 7% of the district´s inhabitants. Their lives changed over night. Step by step the National Socialist excluded Jews from society: Occupational bans and discriminatory regulations made it impossible to live a regular life. During the »Kristallnacht« in November 1938 National Socialist and their supporters destroyed synagogues and Jewish businesses, several thousands of Jews were taken to concentration camps and held there for several weeks. The majority of the Berlin Jews – among them those from Schöneberg – opted for emigration. This was hardly possible after 1940. In autumn of 1941 the National Socialists started the systematic deportation of the German Jews. Almost all remaining 6,000 Jews from Schöneberg were deported to ghettos and extermination camps in occupied eastern territories.
Image: Berlin-Schöneberg, 1908, Viktoria-Luise-Platz, public domain
Berlin-Schöneberg, 1908, Viktoria-Luise-Platz, public domain

Image: Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, View of the exhibition, Thilo Rückeis
Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, View of the exhibition, Thilo Rückeis
During National Socialism most of the Jewish citizens of Schöneberg were forced to emigrate. About 6,000 of them were deported. Of the approximately 2,300 Jewish citizens who lived in Tempelhof prior to 1933 (2.03% of Tempelhof’s population) 203 were deported.
Image: Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, Biographical album, Thilo Rückeis
Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, Biographical album, Thilo Rückeis

Image: Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, Handwritten file cards with the names of deportees, Thilo Rückeis
Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, Handwritten file cards with the names of deportees, Thilo Rückeis
Schöneberg's main synagogue was located in the Münchener Straße. During the terror of the »Kristallnacht« in November 1938 it was looted but not destroyed. However, during the Second World War it was so badly damaged that it had to be demolished in 1956. On its site a memorial was erected in 1963.
In the 1980s many citizens began to get interested in the history of their neighbourhood during National Socialism which resulted in many exhibitions and publications on local history, so too in Schöneberg. In 1995 the exhibition »Patterns of Remembrance« was opened in Schöneberg, based on notes of meetings with eyewitnesses. In 2005 the exhibition »We Were Neighbours« was opened in the Schöneberg City Hall. It originally consisted of 92 albums documenting the lives of former Schöneberg Jews based on their own narratives. The exhibition was shown every year for three months until 2009. Because of structural damage to the building the exhibition was moved to a smaller room in 2009. By and by the materials were extended and supplemented with audio stations. Since Tempelhof and Schöneberg form a joined borough by now, biographies from Tempelhof were included as well. In January 2015 the exhibition – which is reminiscent of a huge reading room – reopened at its former site in the Schöneberg City Hall showing 152 biographical albums. Among them are also biographies of prominent figures like Kurt Tucholsky, Else Lasker-Schüler or Helmut Newton. On the walls are 6,000 handwritten file cards with the names, addresses and biographical data of the deported. Responsible for the exhibition is the association »frag doch! Verein für Begegnung und Erinnerung e.V.« (»do ask. Association for Meeting and Remembrance«).
Image: Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, One of 152 biographical albums, Thilo Rückeis
Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, One of 152 biographical albums, Thilo Rückeis

Image: Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, The exhibition room in the Schöneberg City Hall, Thilo Rückeis
Berlin-Schöneberg, 2015, The exhibition room in the Schöneberg City Hall, Thilo Rückeis
Name
Ausstellung »Wir waren Nachbarn«
Address
Rathaus Schöneberg, John-F.-Kennedy-Platz 1
10825 Berlin
Phone
+49 (0)30 902 774 527
Web
http://www.wirwarennachbarn.de
E-Mail
projekt@wirwarennachbarn.de
Open
Monday to Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m (by appointment also on Fridays for groups and school classes)
Possibilities
German and English guided tours for pupils, youths and adults, thematic focus upon consultation; workshops on various topics.