The Big Clean-Up

Passover in Jerusalem

Color photograph of a realistically modeled miniature steamroller with roller, excavator shovel, and driver's cab. A small metal tube for holding a feather and a candle holder have been attached to the upper side of the stylized engine compartment.

This miniature steamroller by the artist Avi Biran is put to work in the ritual search for leavened grain. If chametz is found in the house, it can literally make it flat as a pancake, Jerusalem 2008; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe. You can find this and other objects related in our German-language collection database.

The time before Passover always seems a bit chaotic to me. Jerusalem looks a little like a German city just before Christmas. Everyone has off work and is busy preparing for the holiday: there is a lot to buy for the seder evening, and many people buy new clothing to look sharp for the family dinner. In homes and buildings across the city, rags, brooms, and vacuums flail frantically. This spring cleaning has a religious motivation:  continue reading


The “Golden V”

The Jewish Museum Berlin is honored with the prize for outstanding traineeships

This picture is a close-up of a golden, V-shaped trophy and the certificate naming the Jewish Museum Berlin as the winner of the prize.

V for Voluntariat; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: David Studniberg

Every year the Bundesvolontärstagung (BVT), a conference for trainees, takes place in a different German city . The BVT is the only national conference for trainees in museums, historical sites, and other cultural institutions. It provides a forum for presentations and discussions on museum-related topics, and also offers the opportunity for networking among trainees. This year, the junior museum employees met on March 1st and 2nd at the Museum Pedagogy Center in Munich.

For three years, the Golden V (for Volontariat, German for trainee) has been given at the BVT. It is an award that honors those institutions that provide an ideal environment for trainees. This year, the Jewish Museum Berlin and the Museum for Communication Frankfurt were presented with the prize.
We asked two of our trainees a few questions about their traineeship, as well as about the prize: 
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