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Finds from the Memmels­dorf Genizah

Unusual Objects From Our Permanent Exhibition Tell Stories of Jewish Life

When renovating a private home in the Lower Franconian town of Memmelsdorf in 2002, workers found a burlap bag containing everyday and religious objects of the former residents. The bag was used as a genizah.

Various crumpled documents with Hebrew letters, a shoe and a bag.

Finds from the Memmelsdorf Genizah, Memmelsdorf (find site), ca. 1725–1830, paper, ink, fabric, leather, porcelain; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession 2003/131/0, photo: Jens Ziehe

The genizah is a storage space for books, papers, and ritual objects that are no longer used. Because they contain God’s name or have come into contact with it, they cannot simply be discarded, as the name of God is sacred. Depending on the religious tradition, the objects are either given a ritual burial or stored in attics or basements. This has allowed objects of great cultural and historical value to survive.

Find out more about this object in showcase.

A boy sits reading in front of a container on the side of the road.

The collection of “holy waste” is a custom that continues. To this day, there are collection containers in Israel and the USA, among other places, which hold unused scriptures and ritual objects. Genizah Container, Jerusalem 2012; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/1067/0, photo: Baruch Gian

Core Exhibition: 13 Objects – 13 Stories (13)

  • 13 Objects – 13 Stories

    A Torah shield, a sculpture, a cushion: 13 unusual objects of our core exhibition tell 13 stories of Jewish life. What would a museum be without its many objects, some small, some big, each rich in meaning? You can get a sneak peek of the objects here on our website.

  • Sculpture of a library made of lead with inserted glass fragments

    Shevirat ha-Kelim (Breaking of the Vessels) by Anselm Kiefer

    This installation can be found in our core exhibition in the Libeskind Building, on level 2

  • Female statue with traces of rust, missing the head

    L’amitié au coeur (Friendship of the Heart)

    by Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791), Paris, 1765, marble

  • Various crumpled documents with Hebrew letters, a shoe and a bag

    Finds from the Memmelsdorf Genizah

    Memmelsdorf (find site), ca. 1725–1830, paper, ink, fabric, leather, porcelain

  • Silver Torah shield with gilded columns and lions holding law tablets

    Torah Shield

    donated by Isaak Jakob Gans (1723–1798), Hamburg, 1760–1765, silver

  • Oil painting with a family scene

    Manheimer Family Portrait

    by Julius Moser (1805–1879), Berlin, 1850, oil on canvas

  • Puppet with a crown and moving parts, which are connected with rivets

    Puppet Show

    King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Käte Baer-Freyer (1885–1988), Berlin, ca. 1924, plywood, metals

  • White pillow with blue script

    Decorated Cushion

    “ISRAELI, JEW, and now SEVERELY DISABLED ...,” Daniel Josefsohn (1961–2016), Berlin, 2014/15, textile

  • Glass showcase full of tableware, cutlery and other silver objects

    Silver Formerly Owned by Jews

    Provenance: up to 1939 unknown Jewish owners, 1939 Hamburg Tax Authority

  • Opened album with pictures of the Chicago skyline, a skyscraper, a painting, and handwritten text

    Going-away Present

    Bruno Heidenheim, Album to bid farewell to Margot (1913–2010) and Ernst (1898–1971) Rosenthal, Chemnitz, 1936

  • Silver washbasin with flowers and ornaments, in the middle a Hebrew inscription

    Hand Washbasin

    Manufacturer: S. & D. Loewenthal, Frankfurt am Main, 1895/96, silver

  • Membership card with a heart-formed photo

    No Longer in the Country

    Unclaimed membership cards for the Jewish community Frankfurt am Main, 1949

  • Abstract painting in blue, black and yellow tones

    Composition

    by Otto Freundlich (1878–1943), 1938, tempera on cardboard

  • Yellow star with the word Jude (Jew) on it

    Yellow Star

    of the Lehmann family, Berlin, 1941–1945

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