Jewish Life in Germany: Past and Present

The new core exhibition presents Jewish history and culture in Germany in a rich, diverse and interactive way covering an area of over 3.500 square meters.

A video installation in the Libeskind Building – Drummerrsss created specifically for the exhibition by Israeli artist Gilad Ratman – is the prelude to walking through the axes and ascending the impressive staircase to the exhibition rooms, where a sculpturally designed welcome point invites visitors to engage.

The subsequent tour of the exhibition combines historical narrative with insights into Jewish culture and religion revolving around the topics "What is sacred in Judaism? What happens on the Shabbat? and What is the sound of Judaism?"

Alongside the presentation of objects, art installations, hands-on stations, and virtual reality over two levels await visitors. The wealth of the museum’s own collection has a greater emphasis than before – more than 70 percent of the over 1000 objects are from the museum’s own holdings. The conservators have been busy preparing objects for the exhibition over the past months to let them shine in a new light. The exhibition is divided into five historical chapters spanning from the beginnings of Jewish life in Ashkenaz, through the emancipation movement, the Enlightenment, and its failure, to the present. The largest space is dedicated to National Socialism and the chapter After 1945, where topics such as restitution and reparation, the relationship to Israel and Russian-speaking immigration from 1990 onwards are the central themes. As a “final chorus,” the video installation Mesubin (The Gathered) brings the polyphony of contemporary Jewish together.