The history of the Jews in Munich, Germany, dates back to the beginning of the 13th century. However, in 1442 Jews were excluded from Upper Bavaria.
Jews only settled back in Munich at the end of the 18th century (53 in 1781, 127 in 1790). The Jewish population is estimated at around 3,500-4,000 in 1875 and around 11,000 in 1910 after the immigration of Eastern Jews following the outbreak of pogroms in Russia.
By the time the Nazis rose to national power in 1933, there were about 9,000-10,000 Jews in Munich. By May 1938, about 3,500 Jews had emigrated, ca. 3,100 of them moving abroad. By May 1939, the number of Jews in the city had further declined to 5,000. In 1944, only 7 Jews remained in Munich. During the war, about 3,000 Jews were deported, with only about 300 returning after the war.
A new community was founded in 1945, which had grown to about 3,500 by 1970. Following the emigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union after 1990, the Jewish population in Munich numbered 5,000 in 1995 and is estimated today to around 9,000, making it the second largest Jewish community in Germany after Berlin.