This imposing building, with its striking golden dome, is one of Berlin's most instantly recognisable landmarks. Designed by architect Eduard Knoblauch in 1859, the synagogue was the centre of Jewish life in Berlin until the the night of 9th November 1938 (Kristallnacht), when it was attacked by Nazi stormtroopers. After an Allied air raid in 1943, the synagogue lay in ruins for around 40 years after the end of the war. It was then restored and reopened as a museum of Jewish culture on the fiftieth anniversary of Kristallnacht, in 1988.