Jewish Museum Berlin Berlin, Germany

Opened in 2001, Berlin's Jüdisches Museum is housed in a striking modern building with bizarre angles and open voids evoking the Holocaust. It is the largest Jewish museum in Europe.

Detail of the *Shalechet* ("Fallen Leaves") installation by Menashe Kadishman of Tel Aviv, c.1998. Occupying a corner space called the "Memory Void," it consists of 10,000 iron faces strewn thickly across the floor. The faces are coarsely stamped but full of expression, with mouths open in suffering. Visitors are permitted to walk on the work. Doing so creates a loud, "industrial" noise and is quite a unique and moving experience. Jewish Museum, Berlin, Germany. Image credit: David Joyal

Overview

Berlin's Judisches Museum (Jewish Museum), housed in a remarkable modern building designed by Daniel Libeskind, opened in September 2001. Shaped a bit like the Star of David and containing bizarre angles to symbolize the Holocaust, the Judisches Museum is the largest and most unique Jewish museum in Europe.

History

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 founded after the Berlin Museum displayed an exhibition on Jewish history in Berlin in 1978; the foundation stone for an extension to the Berlin Museum was laid in November 1992.

In 1999, the Jewish Museum Berlin was granted status as an independent institution. The new building by Daniel Libeskind was finished in 1998 and officially opened in 2001.

Description

The Jewish Museum's exhibits chronicle the history of the Jewish community in Germany from the Middle Ages to today, particularly during the reign of the Third Reich. A general overview of Judaism is provided on the third floor.

Complimenting Libeskind's striking architecture are some works of contemporary art, most notably the Shalechet ("Fallen Leaves") installation by Menashe Kadishman of Tel Aviv. Occupying a corner space called the "Memory Void", it consists of 10,000 iron faces strewn thickly across the floor. The faces are coarsely stamped but full of expression, with mouths open in suffering. Visitors are permitted to walk on the work. Doing so creates a loud, "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.