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Manheimer Family Portrait

Unusual Objects from Our Core Exhibition Tell Stories of Jewish Life

Painting depicting a family in the living room; the brightly dressed, dancing children are the centre of the scene

Manheimer family portrait, by Julius Moser (1805–1879), Berlin, 1850, oil on canvas; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession GEM 96/5/0, gift of Hermann and Mary Blaschko, photo: Jens Ziehe

Family, education, and carefree sociability: The siblings Hulda, Martin, and the younger Clara are dancing through the parlor; Babette accompanies them musically. Anna, the baby in the family, is standing on the sofa and watching them with delight. Therese, the mother, is taking care that she doesn’t fall. The oldest son, Carl, is sitting at the table and eternalizing the scene with his pencil.

The father, Moritz, is standing in the background and to his right is the painter himself, Julius Moser. The family is extended by a picture within a picture: a portrait of the grandmother, which can also be seen in the exhibition. The group portrait shows the Manheimer family as a typical bourgeois family in the Biedermeier period. There is nothing indicating that they were Jewish.

Further information about this painting can be found in our online collections (in German).

Core Exhibition: 13 Objects – 13 Stories (13)

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