Core Exhibition

View of the Rafael Roth Gallery with the 2020 installation DRUMMERRSSS by Gilad Ratman; Jewish Museum Berlin, supported by the U.S. Friends of the Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Gilad Ratman, DRUMMERRSSS, 2020, video installation commissioned by the Jewish Museum Berlin; Jewish Museum Berlin, supported by the U.S. Friends of the Jewish Museum Berlin

Gilad Ratman, DRUMMERRSSS, 2020, video installation commissioned by the Jewish Museum Berlin, Jewish Museum Berlin, supported by the U.S. Friends of the Jewish Museum Berlin

Light projection on the stairs to the core exhibition; Jewish Museum Berlin, design: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Chezweitz GmbH/Hella Rolfes

Entrance to the core exhibition Jewish Life in Germany: Past and Present; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the welcome point and the theme room Torah; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the theme room Torah; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the theme room Torah; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the 2009 installation Visual Prayer by Hagit Hollander-Shimoni; Hagit Hollander-Shimoni, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

The Shabbat area in the theme room Prayer and Practice; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

The Shabbat area in the theme room Prayer and Practice; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the theme room Music; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the theme room Music; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room Ashkenaz; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the epoch room Ashkenaz; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the epoch room In the Early Modern Period; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room In the Early Modern Period; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room When Jews Became Germans; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the epoch room When Jews Became Germans; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the epoch room When Jews Became Germans; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room When Jews Became Germans, a media station shows Berlin around 1800; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the epoch room When Jews Became Germans; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the epoch room When Jews Became Germans; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

A glimpse of Weimar cinema in the epoch room When Jews Became Germans; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

A glimpse of Weimar cinema in the epoch room When Jews Became Germans; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

The interactive Family Album presents ten collections from the museum holdings; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

The interactive Family Album presents ten collections from the museum holdings; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the Hall of Fame; Illustrations: Andree Volkmann, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the Hall of Fame; Illustrations: Andree Volkmann, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the theme room Art and Artists; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the theme room Art and Artists; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room Catastrophe; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room Catastrophe; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room Catastrophe; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room Catastrophe; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of Anna Zimet's farewell letter before her deportation in 1943; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room After 1945; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the epoch room After 1945; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room After 1945; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the epoch room After 1945; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

The Anti-Semitism Debate Room in the epoch room After 1945; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the prism display cases with ceremonial objects in the theme room The Jewish Object; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

View of the installation Mesubin by Yael Reuveny and Clemens Walter at the end of the core exhibition; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

View of the installation Mesubin by Yael Reuveny and Clemens Walter at the end of the core exhibition; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

Torah roll, Hohensalza (Inowrocław) 1903; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of the Leavor family in memory of Dr. Hans and Luise Librowicz, photo: Roman März

Prayer for rain, found in the Memmelsdorf genizah, Memmelsdorf (place of discovery), approx. 1762–1830; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Learning Hebrew, Zimbabwe, approx. 2005; Tobi Asmoucha Photography

Collection of tzedakah boxes; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Anselm Kiefer, Schewirat ha-Kelim (The Breaking of the Vessels), 1990–2020; Anselm Kiefer, photo: Roman März

Finger ring with menorah, 4th century, replica; Museum Augusta Raurica, Augst, photo: Roman März

Abwraham ben Baruch, Meir ben Baruch, and Jizchak ben Meir, Sefer Sinai, Germany 1391; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Portrait of the Schutzjude ("protected Jew") Samuel Salomon from Reichmannsdorf, with Mayor Faber and the hunter Mahlmeister, around 1730; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Two-part coin with screw closure for the execution of Joseph Süß Oppenheimer ("Jud Süß"), probably Württemberg, approx. 1738; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

Torah shield donated by Jakob Gans, Hamburg 1760–1765; Jewish Historical Museum Amsterdam, photo: Jens Ziehe

Yael Buchbinder-Shimoni, Zeena u-Reena, Israel 2017; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Johann Christoph Frisch, Portrait of Moses Mendelssohn, Berlin 1783; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Clara Lobedan, Fanny Lewald in her Study, Berlin 1880; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Max Liebermann, Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, Berlin 1929; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Hand-washing basin, manufacturer: S. & D. Löwenthal, Frankfurt am Main 1895–1896; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

View of the Plauen synagogue, virtual reality application, 2020; TU Darmstadt, Digital Design Unit, in cooperation with Architectura Virtualis

Käte Baer-Freyer, puppets of King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, and Solomon's personal physician Simeon, Berlin, approx. 1924; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift from Eri Heller, photo: Roman März

Music-themed playing cards, hand-made by the Librowicz family, Berlin 1930s; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift from Rudi Leavor, photo: Roman März

Hugo Dohns, memorial tablet for Julius Reis, Germany 1921; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

Julius Moser, painting of the Manheimer family, Berlin 1850; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of the descendants of Hermann and Mary Blaschko, photo: Roman März

Max Oppenheimer (1885–1954), Weintraubs Syncopators, oil on wood, 1927, JMB, previously Sammlung Hugo Staub, forcibly appropriated in 1933, privately owned from 1962, acquired by the JMB in 2024 after a fair and equitable agreement was reached through the mediation of the Grisebach auction house. The purchase was funded from a bequest by Gisela Schwandt to the Deutsche Bank Foundation. Photo: JMB/Roman März

Jankel Adler, Sabbat (Shabbat), 1925; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Jakob Steinhardt, Der Sonntagsprediger (The Sunday Sermonizer), 1930–1934; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Otto Freundlich, Komposition, 1938; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

Felix Nussbaum, Einsamkeit (Loneliness), 1942; Jewish Museum Berlin, purchased with funds from the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin, photo: Roman März

Sign for the law offices of Dr. Werner Liebenthal, Berlin 1933; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift from Hanna Liebenthal, photo: Jens Ziehe

Herbert Sonnenfeld, Leni Sonnenfeld with two students from the Theodor Herzl School playing an Aliyah-themed game, Berlin 1935; Jewish Museum Berlin, purchased with funds from the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin

Bruno Heidenheim, farewell album for Margot and Ernst Rosenthal before their emigration to the United States, Chemnitz 1936; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift from Karin and Steve Rosenthal, photo: Roman März

Torah binder from the destroyed Jewish Museum Worms, Worms 1938; Jewish Museum Worms in the Rashi House, photo: Roman März

Cilly Meyer's identification card with yellow marking denoting Jewish refugee status, Shanghai 1944; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of Trude Meyer

Postcard from Fritz and Ilse Wolffsky to their brother Adolf Wolffsky shortly before their deportation, Tichau (Tychy) 27 June 1943; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of Jon Wolffsky

Silver that was once Jewish property; Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MKG), photo: Roman März

Frédéric Brenner, Minima Moralia, Berlin 2017 ; Jewish Museum Berlin, acquired with the support of Friends of the Jewish Museum Berlin

Wool sweater owned by Sabina Milman, Schwäbisch Hall approx. 1948; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of Isa Milman and Sepora Mayim Jacobson, photo: Roman März

Sabina Milman and Miriam Cecher with their daughters, Schwäbisch Hall approx. 1948; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of Isa Milman and Sepora Mayim Jacobson

Florian Willnauer, Jewish veteran of the Red Army in front of the Soviet monument in Tiergarten, Berlin 2005; Jewish Museum Berlin

Ètienne-Maurice Falconet, L’amitié au co€, Paris 1765; Property of the Federal Republic of Germany. For provenance history see: www.provenienzdatenbank.
bund.de; Photo: Roman März

Daniel Josefsohn, decorative pillow, Berlin 2014–2015; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Flamenco dress owned by Sylvin Rubinstein, Hamburg, around the 1980s; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift from Kuno Kruse, photo: Roman März

Framed pincushion, Austria, approx 1941–1990; Dr. Wolfgang Georg Fischer, Vienna / London, photo: Roman März

Benno Elkan, Hanukkah lamp, Germany 1903–1920; Spertus Institute Chicago, photo: Roman März

Havdalah set belonging to the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Hamburg 1841; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März

Press release: Jewish Life in Germany: Past and Present – The new core exhibition in the Jewish Museum Berlin, Opening: August 23, 2020

The Core Exhibition in Facts and Figures

Press Photos: Views of the Exhibition Rooms
(you can download the photos on our website)

Press Photos: Object images
(you can download the photos on our website)

Jewish Life in Germany: Past and Present – Tour of the Exhibition

New Accents – An Interview with Cilly Kugelmann, JMB Journal No. 21
(also accessible on our website)

Floor plan of the JMB core exhibition

Background Information: The Design of the New Core Exhibition in the Libeskind Building

CV Hetty Berg, Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin

CV Cilly Kugelmann, Head curator of the new core exhibition of the Jewish Museum Berlin

Background Information: Epoch Room “After 1945” - “Debate Room Anti-Semitism”