The First World War in Jewish Memory
The First World War provides a central reference point for German-Jewish commemorative culture, caught in conflict between belonging and exclusion. To mark the 2014 centennial of the outbreak of the First World War, we displayed a representative cross-section of the rich holdings on this subject from the Jewish Museum Berlin collections.
Past exhibition
![Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The Libeskind building is marked in green](/sites/default/files/styles/media_w364/public/media/images/map_liebskindbau_2x.png?itok=qOktJvR1)
Where
Libeskind Building, lower level
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
Exhibition Trailer; Jewish Museum Berlin
Of particular importance in this context are the works of Jewish artists such as Hermann Struck, Jacob Steinhardt, and Ernst Oppler, who were soldiers at the front and captured their encounters with Eastern European Jews in their drawings.
Most of the objects on display in the cabinet exhibition, by contrast, showed the daily grind of war: military documents, letters, photographs, diaries, medals, and private sketchbooks. They were given to the museum as private donations and are part of family bequests. The stories of the descendants and benefactors is integral to the history of these objects. Shaped by the subsequent rupture in civilization, they testify to how emigrants and surviving families remembered participation in the First World War.
How can I donate objects, photographs, and documents to the museum?
If you would like to support the Jewish Museum Berlin and believe you possess materials that may be of interest to us, contact us!
Objects from the Exhibition
![Historical black and white photograph of a group of uniformed men looking at the camera](/sites/default/files/styles/media_lightbox/public/media/images/wk1-sedertafel-galleryimage.jpg?itok=1386SgB9)
Jewish soldiers in the First World War sitting at seder tables, Mitau, 6. April 1917; Jewish Museum Berlin, Gift from Lore Emanuel, Photo: Jens Ziehe.
Further information about this object can be found in our online collections (in German)
![Assortment of objects including badges and pin, many of which have the Iron Cross](/sites/default/files/styles/media_lightbox/public/media/images/wk1-orden-galleryimage.jpg?itok=ob91HPOP)
Medals, badges of honor, and emblems from Julius Fliess (1876-1955) from the First World War; Jewish Museum Berlin, Gift from Dorothee Fliess, Photo: Jens Ziehe.
Further information about this object can be found in our online collections (in German)
![Sketchy black and white drawing of a topless woman wrapped in cloth who appears to be in distress, she is surrounded by tombstone shaped objects](/sites/default/files/styles/media_lightbox/public/media/images/wk1-liebermann-galleryimage.jpg?itok=H5rNu4cI)
Max Liebermann, Den 10.000 gefallenen jüdischen Frontsoldaten, Charcoal, pencil, paper, ca. 1923; Jewish Museum Berlin, Gift of Dr. Walter and Hadassah Schwarz, Photo: Jens Ziehe.
Further information about this object can be found in our online collections (in German)
![A certificate from 1914 decorated with a patterned border, the Iron Cross is on the top of the page](/sites/default/files/styles/media_lightbox/public/media/images/wk1-verleihungsurkunde-galleryimage.jpg?itok=riW0PaUW)
Certificate of award of the Iron Cross 2nd Class for "Bravery in the face of the enemy" for Willy Stern (b. 1891), Date of conferment: 15. Januar 1915; Jewish Museum Berlin, Gift from Marian Stadelman.
Further information about this object can be found in our online collections (in German)
![Cigarette tin with Garbáty crest, labelled “Duke of Edinbourgh“ and “Die Duke of Edinbourgh heisst jetzt Flaggengala”](/sites/default/files/styles/media_lightbox/public/media/images/wk1-garbaty-galleryimage.jpg?itok=hoFietFo)
Cigarette tin from the company Garbáty for the brand „Flaggengala“, Berlin 1914-1918; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Jens Ziehe.
Futher information about this object can be found in our online collections (in German)
![A black and white engraving of a group of mostly men praying in a synagogue](/sites/default/files/styles/media_lightbox/public/media/images/wk1-oppeler-galleryimage.jpg?itok=s8_K-yg2)
Ernst Oppler (1867–1929), Große Synagoge in Munkácz, Etching, around 1915; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Jens Ziehe.
Further information about this object can be found in our online collections (in German)
Exhibition Information at a Glance
- When
3 Jul to 16 Nov 2014
- Where
Libeskind Building, lower level
Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin
See Location on Map