Alexander Beer

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Alexander (Alex) Beer (September 10, 1873 - May 8, 1944) was a German architect. He was born in Hammerstein, West Prussia (now Czarne, Poland). He studied in Berlin and Darmstadt. His first employment was in Mainz, where he restored and refurbished government buildings for the state of Hesse. Being a Jew, he could not find promotion in this position and finally left his post to take on that of a Regierungsbaumeister (Architect in Chief), offered by the Jewish Community in Berlin. Among his works created during this employment are:

A large Jewish orphanage in Berlin-Pankow (1913);
An orthodox synagogue in Berlin-Kreuzberg (1913-16);
A memorial for 395 fallen Berlin Jewish soldiers of World War I in the Jewish Cemetery, Berlin-Weissensee (1924-27);
A Girls’ School in Berlin-Mitte;
A liberal synagogue in Berlin-Wilmersdorf (1928-30). This, together with a Residence for Seniors in Berlin-Schmargendorf (1930-31), was widely regarded as his most important achievement.

Other, lesser commissions included the reconstruction, refurbishment and maintenance of various buildings owned by the Berlin Jewish Community.

All of his works were seriously damaged during the Nazi era. The most dramatic vandalism was the torching of the Prinzregentenstrasse synagogue, Berlin-Wilmersdorf, on the Pogrom Night of 9-10th November, 1938. Since 2000, some of the buildings have been restored, mostly with private funding.

Alexander Beer married Alice Fanny Davidsohn on 8th August, 1924. She died of cancer on 5th November, 1941. On 17th March, 1943, Alexander Beer was deported to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, where he died from starvation on 8th May, 1944. His daughter, Beate (born on 9th May, 1929) survived and now lives in Sydney, Australia.

[edit] References

Lammel, Inge: Alexander Beer, Baumeister der Berliner Jüdischen Gemeinde. Berlin: Hentrich & Hentrich 2006.
Wahrhaftig, Myra: Deutsche jüdische Architekten vor und nach 1933 - Das Lexicon. Berlin: Dietrich-Reimer-Verlag 2005.