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The image shows a tray with two coffee and tea kettles and two cups. The material is silver.

Emmy Roth, coffee and tea set, Berlin 1931; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

Defiance: Jewish Women and Design in the Modern Era

Exhibition

The exhibition reveals the important role that Jewish women designers played in German society’s process of eman­cipation and modernization in the early twentieth century—as women, as Jews, and as artists. Featuring around three hundred exhibits by more than fifty designers, this is the world’s first collective exhibition on the theme. It brings together pioneering women who battled social marginali­zation to attain prominent positions in their own domains—until the Nazi regime destroyed their careers and lives. 

11 Jul to 23 Nov 2025

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The Old Building is marked in green

Where

Old Building, level 1
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin

Some managed to escape and start afresh abroad, but almost all have re­mained excluded from the history of German art and culture up to the present day. Through their works, the Jewish Museum Berlin gives new visibility to their forgotten biographies and their artistic and entre­preneurial achieve­ments. Visitors to the exhibition will en­counter a broad spectrum of design and craft techniques, from gold­smithing and textiles, ceramics and wood carving, to fashion design and graphics.

Exhibition Information at a Glance

  • When 11 Jul to 23 Nov 2025
  • Entry Fee 10 €, reduced 4 €
    Online tickets will be available soon.  
  • Where Libeskind-Bau 1. OG
    Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
    See Location on Map

With funding provided by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds. 

We also thank the David Berg Foundation for their kind support. 

Logo Hauptstadtkulturfonds Black letters on white background reading David Berg Foundation.

Credits

Director  

Hetty Berg

Management  

Lars Bahners (Verwaltung), Julia Friedrich (Sammlung), Barbara Thiele (Vermittlung und Digitales)

Executive Assistants and Aides

Milena Fernando, Mathias Groß, Vera von Lehsten, Eva Weinreich

Curator

Michal S. Friedlander

Curatorial Advisor  

Martina Lüdicke

Exhibition Manager  

Deniz Roth

Project Assistant

Julia Dellith

Student Assistant

Laura Schummers

Voluntary Service

Finn Ferschke, Luise Orth

Head of Exhibitions

Nina Schallenberg

Collection Managemet

Katharina Wippermann (Leitung), Ulrike Gast (Registrar), Iris Blochel-Dittrich, Birgit Maurer-Porat, Valeska Wolfgram (Dokumentation)

Conservators

Barbara Decker, Stephan Lohrengel (paper), Rüdiger Tertel (metal), Ava Hermann, Ines Zimmermann (textile)

Exhibition Design (concept, architectur, graphic design, production management)

Anschlaege.de, Studio for Design

Marketing Campaign

Visual Space Agency, Julia Volkmar
Studio Bens, Jens Ludewig

Exhibition Texts and Copyediting

Michal S. Friedlander (texts), Martina Lüdicke, Marie Naumann, Katharina Wulffius (editing), Henriette Kolb, Anika Reichwald (copyediting) 

Translationand and Translation Copyediting

Allison Brown (German-English), Michael Ebmeyer, Tanja Klapp (English-German), Kate Sturge (copyediting English) 

Exhibition Construction

spreeDesign

Art Handling  

Fißler & Kollegen GmbH

Media Planning and Installation  

Eidotech  

Painter

Lazar Malermeister GmbH

Graphic Production

Atelier Köbbert  

Audio Production

Studio Platzhalter  

Exhibition Lighting  

Victor Kégli

Electrician  

Apleona GmbH

Education and Communication

Diana Dressel (Department head), Nina Wilkens

Accompanying Programme  

Daniel Wildmann (Department head), Signe Rossbach (Event curator), Maria Röger, Shlomit Tripp, Katja Vathke

Archive

Aubrey Pomerance (Department head), Franziska Bogdanov, Ulrike Neuwirth 

Library  

Monika Sommerer (Department head), Bernhard Jensen, Theresa Polley, Ernst Wittmann

Marketing and Communication

Sandra Hollmann (Department head), Ha Van Dinh, Melanie Franke, Julia Jürgens, Margret Karsch, Katrin Möller, Amelie Neumayr

Digital and Publishing

Steffen Jost (Department head), Marie Naumann, Katharina Wulffius (Catalogue), Marina Brafa (Website), Debora Antmann, David Studniberg, Charlotte Struck (Jewish Places), Lea Simon (Research trainee)

Visitor Experience and Research

Christiane Birkert (Department head), Susann Holz, Johannes Rinke

Development

Anja Butzek (Department head), Sarah Winter

FREUNDE DES JMB  

Johanna Brandt (management)

Events

Yvonne Niehues (Department head), Juliane Ganzer, Katja Rein, Falk Schneider, Danny Specht-Eichler, Gesa Struve

Legal Department and Tendering

Julia Lietzmann (Department head), Sascha Brejora, Olaf Heinrich, Jonas Nondorf

Finance and Controlling  

Grit Schleheider (Department head), Odette Bütow, Rainer Christoffers, Andreas Harm, Denise Kurby, Cindy Niepold, Stefan Rosin, Katja Schwarzer

Human Resources

Brit Linde-Pelz (Department head), Manuela Gümüssoy, Lilith Wendt

Facility Management

Manuela Konzack (Department head), Guido Böttcher, Mirko Dalsch, André Küter, Marcel Kühle, Janine Lehmann, Christian Michaelis, Jan Viegils

ICT

Michael Concepcion (Leitung), Anja Jauert, Kathleen Köhler, Sebastian Nadler

Exhibition Maintenance

Leitwerk Servicing

Janitor Service

FAM

Cleaning  

Piepenbrock Reinigung GmbH

Sercurity

Kötter Security SE 

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