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2020 Outreach Programs

For Children and Teens in Berlin and the New Federal States

Group photo of about 20 young people pulling their arms up

Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Arnon Hampe

In 2020, the Jewish Museum Berlin's new permanent exhibition opened, followed in 2021 by the opening of the ANOHA children's museum across the street from the museum. Building on the program reorientation associated with these major projects, the Jewish Museum Berlin also wanted to set new standards for its future educational work.

The outreach program was a special focus and was further developed in step with the many improvements. With our outreach program, we wanted to continue to reach young people who could not easily come to our museum. This is a goal that the Jewish Museum Berlin has been pursuing since 2007 with the outreach program on.tour.

The mobile exhibition on.tour – the Jewish Museum Berlin Visits Schools has so far reached nearly 75,000 students in 587 secondary schools throughout Germany. The valuable experience gained from ten years of on.tour forms the foundation for the Museum’s new outreach programs. Based on the new exhibitions and supported by digital and interactive methods, we were rethinking our educational work.

Staff and guides from <cite>on.tour: The Jewish Museum Berlin Tours Schools</cite> with program director Léontine Meijer-van Mensch

10 years on.tour: The Jewish Museum Berlin Tours Schools; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Yves Sucksdorff

Programs for Young People Ages 13 and Older

In 2019 and 2020, the new outreach program was launched with workshops relating to the new website Jewish Places. The first interactive map of Jewish life in Germany consists of over 7000 data on Jewish local history and carries on growing with the support of its users. Jewish Places brings Jewish history and present in our surroundings to life through secular and religious places and Jewish biographies.

Screenshot: A map of Germany littered with colorful pins.

Map of Jewish Places in Germany and the surrounding area; Jewish Museum Berlin. To see the interactive website for yourself, visit www.jewish-places.de (in German).

Graphic showing photos in four circles of people holding slips of paper with the words: "Discover and learn with jewish places".

The Jewish Places team; Jewish Museum Berlin

From early summer 2020 to mid 2021, we worked with school students from secondary schools from 8th grade as part of five tours: 
As part of a five-day workshop, the approximately 20 young participants explored historical places of Jewish life in their environment with educational support from three experienced museum team members. Equipped with mobile devices, they took photos and videos, conducted independent research in archives and libraries, and talked to members of the local Jewish community.

They summarized the information and insights they had gather in brief texts and uploaded these as user-generated content to the Jewish Places website, thus making them accessible to a broad public. At the end of the week, they presented the places and stories they had discovered to their fellow students, teachers, and interested guests from the area and community.

Perfectly equipped and with many ideas in our luggage, we were on the road with our newly designed tour bus. 
If you are interested in a tour, please contact us at ontour@jmberlin.de or +49 (0)30 25993-547.

One hand holds a smartphone on which a map with colorful place markers is open.

The interactive map of Jewish Places on your smartphone; Jewish Museum Berlin

Supported by

Logo Deutsche Bank Stiftung.
(20 items)
  • The blue on.tour bus is parked on a cobbled square. The words “on.tour” are written on the bus in pink, green, and blue. There are buildings in the background.

    For one week, we took our on.tour bus to visit young people in schools, researching Jewish history in their area together with them, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • Rabbi Professor Andreas Nachame stands with the young people in front of the entrance to a building and shakes one girl's hand.

    Students met members of the Jewish community; here they are with Rabbi Prof. Andreas Nachama at the site of the former Sukkat Schalom Synagogue in Berlin-Steglitz, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • A man wearing glasses holds a Hanukkah candelabra in one hand while talking. A group of young people sits around him.

    For the project week on.tour went Jewish Places, three experienced team members brought touchable objects to the schools, along with tablets, and many other materials. On the first workshop day, they taught the students about the basics of Judaism and encouraged the young people to pursue their own questions, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • Five people stand in front of a villa. At the left edge of the image a browser window is visible with a photo and some text cut off—next to it is a blue pin with a white house-symbol.

    A group of young people was led around the Liebermann Villa by an expert; the collage shows the marker that was set later and the entry in Jewish Places, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • Young people and an adult are in a room with a projector screen and board. Posters with writing on them are spread across the floor. In the foreground, a girl sits on the floor writing on a poster.

    What is my Potsdam like? Which Jewish places do I know?–The project week changed the young people's perspective on their own environment, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • A girl uses a tablet to take a photograph of a tombstone in a cemetery.

    Whether inside or outside: equipped with mobile tablets, the young people created photos and videos of the places they visited; here they were at the Jewish Cemetery in Potsdam, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • A girl stands in a room in the Brandenburg Main State Archive between shelves of old books.

    Have you ever been inside of an archive? During independent research, young people explored archives, museums, and other institutions; here they were in the Brandenburg Main State Archive, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • Two young people sit at a table and write with pens in a notebook behind a shelf at the library of the Steglitz Museum.

    The students prepared texts about Jewish places, based on the information they had gathered and their newfound insights; here they were in the library of the Steglitz Museum, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • Young people sit in a large room. Three young people sit in front of a keyboard in the foreground.

    Once the descriptive texts, photos, and videos were finished, the young people entered them into the Jewish Places database. In this way, they've also learned media skills and how to work with a participatory website, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • Young people and adults sit on rows of chairs in a large room listening to three young people who are speaking in front of a projector screen.

    At the end of the project week, the students presented their Jewish Places entries and reported on their experiences. For their final presentation, students and teachers from other classes came, along with family, friends, and interested guests; here they were at the Hannah Arendt Secondary School in Potsdam, Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Alexi Papadopoulos

  • Teenagers at a table with hands-on objects

    Small groups investigated the materials from Jewish life, then presented their findings to the other groups. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Sarah Hiron

  • Two high school students conducting research with archival materials and a tablet

    Analog met digital. At the Oldenburg Municipal Archive, students consulted historical documents for information about their chosen "Jewish Place." Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Sarah Hiron

  • Young people on a park lawn with writing implements

    Three students have used their free time during the workshop to work on their texts at the memorial in Oldenburg. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Sarah Hiron

  • A rabbi reading from the Torah

    For its research, one group has visited Rabbi Alina Treiger at the Oldenburg Synagogue – a poignant experience for everyone involved. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: David Studniberg

  • Two teenagers standing in front of the synagogue’s informational placards, in central Oldenburg

    In central Oldenburg, students researched information about the Jewish establishment of their choice. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Sarah Hiron

  • High school student at a computer with the Jewish Places website on screen

    Time to go digital. A high school student recorded the information he collected in Jewish Places. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Sarah Hiron

  • Students giving a presentation in front of an electronic whiteboard

    "We learned something for life!" One by one, the small groups presented their entries on Jewish Places and shared their experiences from the workshop with the other students. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Sarah Hiron

  • Screenshot of the Jewish Places website showing pinned locations on the map

    This section of the map shows the results compiled by the students from Oldenburg. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Anika Nowak-Wetterau

  • Student completes questionnaire

    Using our evaluation forms, the students helped us improve future workshops. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Sarah Hiron

  • Group photograph showing around 20 teenagers raising their arms in the air

    All the students and the entire Jewish Places team visibly enjoyed themselves during the workshop. Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Arnon Hampe

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