For the few survivors of the Shoah who had returned to Munich or those who were staying in the city temporarily as DPs, the reopening of the synagogue in May 1947 was a significant step toward regaining empowerment in both a civil and religious context.

The imposing building, barely known to a wider public due to its inner courtyard location, was erected in 1931 and was used as a synagogue by the mostly Eastern European immigrants in the surrounding Isarvorstadt neighborhood. The “Reichenbachschul” was one of three large synagogues in Munich and the last new religious building to be constructed before 1933. In the Kristallnacht on November 9–10, 1938, this synagogue was also destroyed by the Nazis, aided by Munich residents. Toward the end of the war the synagogue was used for other unrelated purposes.

After the re-opening of this house of worship the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde München was able to use it once again as a synagogue from 1947 onward. In 2006, the synagogue on Sankt-Jakobs-Platz was inaugurated and since then the building on Reichenbachstrasse has stood empty. It is currently undergoing extensive renovation and is being restored by the Support Association Reichenbachstrasse to how it appeared in 1931.

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