Jüdisches Museum (Jewish Museum), Berlin
Aerial view of the striking architecture of the Jewish Museum.
Strange angles abound in the hallways. Photo by Anthony J. Hicks.
Photo by Anthony J. Hicks.
The "Fallen Leaves" installation. Photo by Anthony J. Hicks.
Closer look at the "Fallen Leaves" installation. Public domain.
Berlin's Judisches Museum (Jewish Museum), housed in a remarkable high-concept building designed by Daniel Libeskind, opened in September 2001.
Shaped like the Star of David and containing architectural "voids" and bizarre angles to symbolize the Holocaust, the Judisches Museum is the largest and most unique Jewish museum in Europe.
It chronicles the history of the Jewish community in Germany from the Middle Ages to today, particularly during the reign of the Third Reich.
The Jewish Museum in Berlin was originally founded in Oranienburger Strasse in 1933. It was closed in 1938 by the state police. The idea to revive the museum was first voiced in 1971, and an "Association for a Jewish Museum" was founded in 1975.
A Jewish department of the Berlin Museum was opened after the Berlin Museum first displayed an exhibition on Jewish history in Berlin in 1978. In 1999 the Jewish Museum Berlin was granted status as an independent institution.
A building by Daniel Libeskind was finished in 1998 and officially opened in 2001; the foundation stone for the extension building to the Berlin Museum was laid in November 1992. It has now become a lively center for Jewish history and culture.
Libeskind's design created an open area enclosed by the internal walls of the museum, called the memory void for those affected by the Holocaust.
Menashe Kadishman's "Shalechet" ("Fallen Leaves") installation filled this void with 10,000 coarsely made iron faces. Visitors are permitted to walk on the work. Doing so creates an almost "industrial" noise and is quite a unique and moving experience.
The director of the museum is Professor W. Michael Blumenthal, who is originally from Berlin and was US Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter.
| Address: | Lindenstrasse 9-14, Berlin 10969, Germany |
| Phone: | 49 (30) 25993-300 |
| Web: | http://www.jmberlin.de/ |
| Metro: | Kochstr. (U-bahn) |
| Hours: | Mon. 10-10, Tues.-Sun. 10-8 |
| Time: | Three hours |
| Cost: | EUR5 |
| Tip: | Devote more time to the second floor if you're already familiar with basic aspects of Judaica, which makes up much of the third floor. |
Location Map
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Sources
- Jewish Museum Berlin – Official Site
- Jüdisches Museum - Fodor's Online Travel Guide
- Jewish Museum – Economist.com Cities Guide
- Jewish Museum, Berlin Opening Ceremony – The Guardian Galleries (photo gallery with captions)
- Light in the dark: A visit to the Jewish Museum – Minneapolis Star-Tribune, March 16, 2003
- The Jewish Museum in Berlin – "Not a Guilt Trip" – APF Reporter, 2001
- Jewish Museum Berlin – Galinsky (focuses on architecture)
- Jewish Museum – Archiseek (focuses on architecture)
- Jewish Berlin – Berlin Tourist Information
