The Old Synagogue in Potsdam was built according to plans by Otto Kerwien. After three years of construction, the synagogue was inaugurated on June 17, 1903. The Jewish community Potsdam counted in 1801 32 families. In 1802, Potsdam's first synagogue, dating back to 1768, was rebuilt on Wilhelmsplatz, and the decorative and veduta painter Johann Friedrich Meyer depicted the first synagogue in a painting from 1773. The painting hangs in the New Chambers in Sanssouci. In 1895, the community already had 489 members, when it was decided in 1898 to create a new building in place of the previous buildings. The first draft for a new building provided a sacred building in Romanesque style, which had been rejected by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Thus, the new building in the style of the Neo-Baroque with a red sandstone facade was created. The synagogue counted 154 men's places, 162 women's places and 6 official seats. In 1925, the community numbered 600 members. The interior of the old synagogue in Potsdam was destroyed in the November pogrom in 1938, but because of the neighboring post office, the synagogue was not the victim of an arson. The neighboring post office took over the intact building and used the synagogue as a post office hall until heavy damage during the air raid on Potsdam on April 14, 1945. In 1954 the ruin was demolished, and subsequently new residential buildings were built on the north side of the square of the unit. Today about 800 citizens of Jewish faith live in Potsdam. About 395 are represented in the community. About 70 percent of the church members are over 60 years old. There is a plaque attached to the house on the synagogue site