Jewish Museum in Berlin: Distressing and Captivating
It is a mitzvot commandment to be friendly to strangers. Also, 3 out of 10 Jews love Bavarian bread dumplings. This is just a fragment of what you will learn when you visit the Jewish Museum in Berlin. There is fascinating yet sad knowledge that awaits any visitor to this historical site.
Jewish Museum in Berlin – The Exhibition
The Jewish Museum in Berlin has attracted approx. 2,000 visitors daily since 2001. Its extensive collection of over 24,000 photographs alone for example, makes it possible to tell and reflect on the German-Jewish history in a well-presented way. Personal belongings and their stories enable visitors to immerse themselves directly in the tragic German-Jewish history. The museum therefore becomes a place of remembrance.
But it is not only the Holocaust which is the subject here. Focus is also placed on the life of German Jews today. In the current exhibition “A is for Jewish” (which runs until the end of September 2019), young and old can acquaint themselves with German-Jewish everyday life. This is done by means of diverse colorful information boards, charts and exhibits. You will learn for example, what makes food kosher and what Bar Mitzvah is.
Architecture which conveys emotions
Yet the Jewish Museum in Berlin has not only become known for what lies within, but also because of its exterior. The architecture of the building is impressive and also depressing at the same time. Next to the Baroque entrance the new building stands out – literally. Architect Daniel Liebeskind uses the many pointed corners, extremely high ceilings, cold concrete, titanium and intersecting lines to tell the German-Jewish story.
The building constantly challenges you. In one place the ceiling of a room appears to be far away in the distance, in the Holocaust Tower the cold concrete and minimal light create an extremely oppressive feeling and quite frequently your own sense of balance has a few problems with the many slopes. If you’ve never experienced it, it is probably hard to imagine how a building can transmit so many emotions.
For this reason alone, but of course also for the interesting exhibition, the Jewish Museum is an absolute must on any visit to Berlin.
If you are looking for a place to bed down when you visit, MEININGER hotels have 6 central hotels in Berlin.
