View of the room After 1945; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März
Jews, Germany, and Israel
A guided tour through the core exhibition on the anniversary of the October 7 attack (in English, German, and Hebrew)
The founding of the State of Israel in 1948 marked a decisive moment for Jews worldwide. The Jewish community in Germany felt a deep connection to the new state. In this context, one room in the core exhibition is dedicated to the history of German–Israeli relations and their significance for Jews in Germany. The challenges of navigating this triangular dynamic as a Jew in Germany, entangled in the trajectories of two states with a relationship highly fraught by history, have become even more apparent in the aftermath of 7 October 2023.
Past event
Where
Old Building, ground level, Glass Courtyard
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
This guided tour through the permanent exhibition follows two thematic through-lines: the notion of holiness in Diaspora Judaism, which is shaped by both affinity for and distance from the Land of Israel, and the emergence of Zionism as a Jewish nationalist movement in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a development parallel to the emergence of modern racial antisemitism.
The tour concludes with a visit to Shalekhet (Fallen Leaves), a sculpture by Israeli artist Menashe Kadishman composed of 10,000 steel faces on which visitors may walk. The artist dedicated the installation to all innocent victims of war and violence.
