The founding of the Jewish community center and its opening ceremony in the Hamburg neighborhood of Rotherbaum on January 9, 1938 was an unmistakable sign of self-assertion and spiritual resistance. It was reflected in the inaugural speech given by banker Max Moritz Warburg, both in his words and between the lines. The typewritten manuscript of this speech is 6.5 pages long and is kept at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York. It was thanks to Warburg’s financial and personal support that the project “Jüdisches Gemeinschaftshaus G.m.b.H.” was realized, creating a venue for the Hamburg Jewish Cultural Association Jüdischer Kulturbund Hamburg, which had been banned from its previous performance venues. Warburg was not only one of the Jewish Cultural Association's  Jüdischer Kulturbund most important supporters, but also the association’s advocate in its constant conflicts with the German-Israelite Congregation. While the opening of the community center on Hartungstraße 9–11 certainly represents a significant marker in Hamburg’s Jewish cultural life during the National Socialist regime, it is its history prior to and after this event in particular that makes this place so special.