Mendelsohn House (Bet Tahara) in Olsztyn

The small building on ul. Zyndrama z Maszkowic is the first completed work of Erich Mendelsohn – the Olsztyn-born architect later famous for the Einstein Tower in Potsdam. The former Jewish pre-burial house Bet Tahara (Hebrew for House of Purification), built in 1913, is the last surviving trace of Olsztyn's Jewish community. After years of neglect it has regained its mosaic dome, and since 2013 it has been the "Mendelsohn House" Intercultural Dialogue Centre.

History: a design its architect left out

The building was commissioned by the Jewish community of Olsztyn (then Allenstein). It was built by the end of 1912, finishing work continued in spring 1913, and it opened in August 1913 as a pre-burial house by the Jewish cemetery, used for the ritual washing of the dead. Mendelsohn, born in Olsztyn in 1887, came to supervise the work, but his clients received him coolly: they found the building too modern and too costly, even though the community was a Reform one. The design also includes a smaller gardener's house next door.

After 1945 the building passed to the state; until 1996 it housed the State Archives, and the cemetery was devastated in the late 1960s. Today it belongs to the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, which has made it available to the Borussia Foundation. The Mendelsohn House officially opened on 21 March 2013, exactly 126 years after the architect's birth. In 2024 Borussia received a POLIN Special Award for saving Bet Tahara.

Curiosities: the rediscovered dome

The building had been heavily altered and no archival documentation survived. The first conservation surveys were carried out in 2006. When a later ceiling and its supporting pillars were removed, the original dome with its mosaics and paintings came to light. When presenting his work later, Mendelsohn left out the Olsztyn project and regarded the Einstein Tower as his debut – which is why Bet Tahara long remained little known.

What to see

• The main hall, with a terrazzo floor inlaid with a Star of David.
• The dome, with its uncovered mosaics and painted decoration.
• The gardener's house – the second building of Mendelsohn's design.
• The remains of the Jewish cemetery around the building.

Tripto tips

The Mendelsohn House is mainly an events venue – exhibitions, meetings, concerts and the Mendelsohn Festival – rather than a museum with fixed opening hours. Check the Borussia Foundation's programme (ul. Zyndrama z Maszkowic 2) or call the office before you visit. You can see the building from outside at any time; allow 30–45 minutes for the interior. Remember that the grounds are a former cemetery – please behave accordingly.