Germany's biggest synagogue, considered to be one of the jewels of the country's Jewish community, reopens on Friday in a special ceremony in Berlin, BBC reported.

The building in the east of the city, topped with a stunning blue dome, survived both Nazi rule and communism, and symbolises both the suffering and revival of Germany's Jewish community.

Built a century ago, it has been restored with the help of the Berlin city authorities and lottery money.

The synagogue on Rykestrasse was set ablaze on Kristallnacht - the night in 1938 when so many Jewish temples, homes and businesses were torched.

It also survived atheist East Germany, although under communism the synagogue gradually fell into decay and disrepair.

BBC comments that in recent years there has been a revival of Jewish life and culture in Germany, helped by an influx of mainly Russian-speaking Jews from former Soviet states.

"It has meant that Germany today has one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in the world."

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