With a capacity of 1,300 seats it was one of the largest Jewish houses of worship in Germany.

After the Nazi Party gained power in 1933, the local government forced the Jewish community to sell the property and decided to demolish the synagogue.

Demolition works began a few weeks before the Kristallnacht and were finished in December 1938.

In 1958–1965 the new Opernhaus Dortmund was built on the site where the synagogue once stood.

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