Blogerim

27 May 1934 – 6 April 2018

Reinhard Rürup; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

The Jewish Museum Berlin mourns the loss of Reinhard Rürup. He died on Friday at age 83. Although as a historian his name is most associated with the Berlin Topography of Terror Foundation, the Jewish Museum Berlin also owes much to his work.

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The sixth and final installment in our blog series “Memories from the Life of Walter Frankenstein”

The Frankenstein family in their apartment, Bandhagen (outside of Stockholm), around 1956–1957; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of Leonie and Walter Frankenstein

To start from the beginning again: when I consider the path that Walter Frankenstein and his family took, I’m constantly astonished that they didn’t lose hope and always found new strength to confront the numerous changes in their lives. In 1956, the final big challenge in the lives of the four Frankensteins got underway.

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Passover in Jerusalem

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