Blogerim

The Jewish Museum Berlin is honored with the prize for outstanding traineeships

V for Voluntariat; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: David Studniberg

Every year the Bundesvolontärstagung (BVT), a conference for trainees, takes place in a different German city . The BVT is the only national conference for trainees in museums, historical sites, and other cultural institutions. It provides a forum for presentations and discussions on museum-related topics, and also offers the opportunity for networking among trainees. This year, the junior museum employees met on March 1st and 2nd at the Museum Pedagogy Center in Munich.

For three years, the Golden V (for Volontariat, German for trainee) has been given at the BVT. It is an award that honors those institutions that provide an ideal environment for trainees. This year, the Jewish Museum Berlin and the Museum for Communication Frankfurt were presented with the prize.
We asked two of our trainees a few questions about their traineeship, as well as about the prize:  (more…)

Interview with Dalia Castel and Orit Nahmias

Dalia Castel and Orit Nahmias prepared for the interview by sitting on the sofa to watch Jerusalem for Cowards together; photo: private

Dalia Castel is a filmmaker, Orit Nahmias an actress at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theatre. Both grew up in Jerusalem – they are childhood friends and their paths have crossed on numerous occasions. Today, they both live in Berlin. When asked why they made a documentary about their hometown, they  finish each other’s sentence: “We had questions, …” Orit begins to explain, “… about Jerusalem,” Dalia adds. They turned their questions into a very personal documentary: Jerusalem for Cowards (2011). The film will be screened at the Jewish Museum Berlin on February 19^th, and the screening will be followed by a discussion. (more…)

On the trail of a coffee shop

It was a very special moment for me when I got to unpack recently a new collection for the Archive. A small package from Tel Aviv lay in front of me. The sender was Mor Kaplansky, an Israeli film-maker, with whom I had been corresponding since spring of this year.

Unpacking the collection of the Family Nagler; Jewish Museum Berlin; photo: Ulrike Neuwirth

It had all begun in March, at the finissage of Nosh, the Jewish Food Week. In a small café in Kreuzberg, the documentary film Café Nagler had just been shown. The film is about a coffee shop of that name, which had once stood on the Moritzplatz. While in Berlin today, there is no evidence that the café ever existed at the site, descendants of the Naglers in Israel have kept its memory alive right through the present day. The film moved me greatly. I was excited to see on the screen that Naomi, grandmother of the film-maker, had preserved certain treasures such as a coffee service with the emblem of the café and a set of silverware bearing the initials “N”. I also noticed various photographs and documents.

(more…)