The Jewish Museum Berlin Celebrates its 10th Anniversary

Gala Concert with Daniel Barenboim and the "Staatskapelle Berlin"

Anton Bruckner’s 7th Symphony brought him the long-awaited breakthrough as orchestral composer in the mid 1880s. Daniel Barenboim and the "Staatskapelle Berlin" will celebrate the Jewish Museum’s 10th anniversary by playing this impressive symphony.

Gala Dinner

Following the concert, the "Prize for Understanding and Tolerance" will be presented to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a gala dinner in the future Jewish Museum Berlin Academy. (Closed event)

"Between the Lines" – A Literary Stroll through the City
With an introduction by Daniel Libeskind

The Leo Baeck Institute New York/Berlin congratulates the JMB with a special salon evening. Young authors from the Institute for Literary Writing at the University of Hildesheim were inspired by biographies at the Leo Baeck Archive at the Jewish Museum Berlin. Starting with a look at Berlin’s topography, from which Daniel Libeskind developed the architecture for the Jewish Museum Berlin, the salon guests invite you to a literary stroll through the city with texts written especially for the evening.

"10th Grade Day"

Sixty tours, four workshops, a competition for school bands rounded off by a big concert – the museum invites 10th grade students to explore the themes of identity and homeland in a multiethnic society. Beats of a hip Berlin band will ring through the Glass Courtyard at the end of this day.

"Visions of Belonging. Jews, Turks, and other Germans"
Anniversary Symposium

In conversations, discussions, and brief talks, the Anniversary Symposium explores the state of the nation from a variety of perspectives. Identity and integration, exclusion and belonging, forced assimilation and parallel worlds: What is German in the 21st century?

Discussions

Panel 1: "Immigration Country Against its own Will"
Moderated by Susan Neiman (Einstein Forum), social scientists and ethnologists consider the status quo in today’s Germany.

Panel 2: "Islam is Part of Germany"
Moderated by Naika Foroutan (Humboldt University, Berlin), the panel explores the insecurity and defensive reactions sparked by this statement.

Chaired Discussion

The philosopher Judith Butler (University of California, Berkeley) examines the tensions a globalized world creates for national identities.

Reading and Discussion with the Author

The actor Burghart Klaußner reads from Sayed Kashua’s novel "Zweite Person Singular" (Second person singular). Kashua describes the feeling of foreignness experienced by two Arab Israelis in the majority culture.

Concert

A concert by Daniel Kahn & Psoy Korolenko concludes the symposium.

A cooperation with the Einstein Forum and the network partner "DeutschPlus – Initiative für eine plurale Republik."

Prelude

Four anthropologists consider Germany’s cultural diversity

The Birthday Party – Public Day with Free Admission

To round off the anniversary week, the museum will open its doors to all visitors free of charge. There will be music and dance at a family brunch in the Glass Courtyard provided among others by the children’s dance company of Sasha Waltz & Guests. A Cynthia Barcomi birthday cake will accompany afternoon coffee, as will the Rathaus Ramblers with Hot New Orleans Jazz & Swing.

Under the heading of "Objects and their Stories," the museum presents itself and its work with examples from the collections and the archive with tours, readings, and workshops. Numerous birthday guests show visitors their favorite exhibits from the exhibition, among them Rabbi Y. Ehrenberg, Michael Naumann, and Marcel Reif. For our young guests, Mirjam Pressler reads from her new translation of Lea Goldberg’s children’s classic "A Flat for Rent."

The "Anniversary Couch"

During the anniversary week, the "Anniversary Couch" in the Rafael Roth Learning Center will become a meeting point for all those who would like to learn more about the JMB’s work and personalities and what is important to them. This is where the museum’s curators converse with donators, artists, experts, and visitors. Three of many interesting encounters include: museum director W. Michael Blumenthal talks to the journalist David Dambitsch about his life’s work; the curator Inka Bertz introduces Miguel Rothschild, artist featured in the special exhibition "How German is it?," and the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, survivor of the girls’ orchestra in Auschwitz and co-founder of the English Chamber Orchestra tells of her life.