The Jewish Museum Berlin is now showing the first-ever large-scale exhibition on Jewish experiences in East Germany, on display until 14 January 2024. With a focus on cultural history and drawing on documentary research, the show delves into a little-examined aspect of German-Jewish history, bringing together visual art, film, and literature, as well as multifaceted biographies and exceptional artifacts.
8 Sep 2023 to 14 Jan 2024
Where
Old Building, level 1
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
The exhibition centers individual perspectives as it explores Jewish experiences in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), extending this narrative beyond Reunification to the present day. Witnesses to history and their personal stories are at the heart of the show. What motivated Jews to return to the GDR? What did it mean to be Jewish there? What kinds of relationships did Jews have with the state and its structures?
In the aftermath of the Shoah, many Jews were united by a shared desire to build an anti-fascist state in eastern Germany – “another country,” as some of them put it in interviews. Some of these returnees had fled Germany during the Nazi regime and returned after 1945 to the Soviet zone of occupation. Many had survived concentration camps or periods in hiding. In the exhibition, they talk about their experiences in exile, their survival, and their return migration.
Glimpses into the Exhibition
Photo series of the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße, Berlin, September 1987; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Mathias Brauner
View of the exhibition room on East Berlin; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
Torah curtain from the destroyed Old Synagogue of Magdeburg, Germany, 19th century; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of the Jewish Community of Magdeburg, K.d.ö.R, photo: Roman März
View of the exhibition room on the seven other Jewish communities in the GDR; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
Alice Zadek with her daughter Ruth and her nephew David Hopp on Stalinallee (Karl-Marx-Allee), Berlin, ca. 1956; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of Ruth Zadek, photo: Gerhard Zadek
View of the exhibition room with some important dates for Jewish life in the GDR; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
Marion Kahnemann, Henriette, Dresden, 1985, Ceramic, glazed; Jewish Museum Berlin, on loan from the artist, photo: Roman März
Photo series of the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße, Berlin, September 1987; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Mathias Brauner
Torah curtain from the destroyed Old Synagogue of Magdeburg, Germany, 19th century; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of the Jewish Community of Magdeburg, K.d.ö.R, photo: Roman März
View of the exhibition room on the seven other Jewish communities in the GDR; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
Alice Zadek with her daughter Ruth and her nephew David Hopp on Stalinallee (Karl-Marx-Allee), Berlin, ca. 1956; Jewish Museum Berlin, gift of Ruth Zadek, photo: Gerhard Zadek
View of the exhibition room with some important dates for Jewish life in the GDR; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
The show is accompanied by extensive thematic programming ranging from a concert with the band Stern-Combo Meißen to a specialized conference titled ...and turning towards the future? – On Jewish History and Stories in the GDR. On Tuesday afternoons, events will also be held directly in the personal environment of the exhibition space, including readings, discussions, film screenings, and discussions with people who lived through this history.
Featuring artworks by Silvia Dzubas, Lea Grundig, Barbara Honigmann, Marion Kahnemann, Yael Reuveny and Vera Singer. The mixed-media installation from me to we by Leon Kahana was commissioned especially for the exhibition and made possible by a grant from the FRIENDS OF THE JMB.
Exhibition Information at a Glance
- When8 Sep 2023 to 14 Jan 2024
- Entry fee8 €, reduced rate 3 €, children and young people under the age of 18 can enter free of charge. You can find more information on our price list.
Ticket shop - Ticket PartnershipIf you present your exhibition ticket at the Centrum Judaicum by 14 January 2024, you will receive discounted admission there.
From 1 November through 31 December 2023, if you present your ticket to the exhibition purchased during that period, you will receive discounted admission to the exhibition Wolf Biermann: A Poet and Songwriter in Germany at the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum) in Berlin.
These offers also apply in the opposite direction. Only applicable for tickets purchased in person at each museum’s ticket counter.
Exhibition Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: Features & Programs
- Exhibition Webpage
- Current page: Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: 8 Sep 2023 to 14 Jan 2024
- Accompanying Events
- Events in the exhibition: GDR on Tuesday: Event with fixed dates, in German
- Concert: Martin Schreier & Stern-Combo Meißen: An Ost-Rock legend at the JMB, 21 Sep 2023
- ...And Facing the Future? – Jewish History and Stories in the GDR: A scholarly conference accompanying the exhibition, 18–20 Oct 2023, in German
- Stories from the GDR – Podium discussion, 19 Oct 2023, in German
- Guided Tours
- Guided Tour in English: Tour with fixed dates (thursdays)
- Guided Tour in German: Tour with fixed dates (saturdays)
- Brunch with Guided Tour: Tour with fixed dates (sundays)
- Public Historic Urban Walk: Jewish in the GDR: – Tour with fixed dates (sundays), in German
- Guided Tour for Groups: Tour by appointment, in several languages
- Historic Urban Walk for Groups: Jewish in the GDR: Tour by appointment, in several languages
- Film Workshop for Groups: Come fly with me over the Brandenburg Gate – by appointment, in German
- Digital Content
- Voices from the GDR: Twelve short film interviews with Jewish perspectives on life and the political system, 2023, in German with English subtitles
- Come Fly With Me Over the Brandenburg Gate: A documentary by Esther Zimmering, in German
- Singled Out and Viewed Suspiciously: Jews in the GDR: Abridged version of Annette Leo’s contribution to the exhibition catalog, 2023
- Jewish in the GDR. A Road Trip with Marion and Lena Brasch: A podcast by Deutschlandfunk Kultur in cooperation with the Jewish Museum Berlin, six episodes, 2023, in German
- Jewish Local History of the GDR: Information about the communities in Dresden, Erfurt, Halle, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Chemnitz and Schwerin on Jewish Places
- City Walk Berlin-East: Tour with Jewish Places from the New Synagogue to the kosher butcher’s shop, school participation project 2022/23
- Publications
- Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: Catalog accompanying the exhibition, English edition, 2023
- Ein anderes Land. Jüdisch in der DDR: Catalog accompanying the exhibition, German edition, 2023
- See also
- East Germany
Study Projects on the Exhibition
Created in a seminar at the Humboldt University’s Institute for Cultural Studies with the curators of the exhibition under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Liliana Feierstein, 2021 (in German)
A Comic Strip – as Remembered by an Eyewitness
An Audio Feature with Peter Schaul
Sponsors
Cooperating Partners
Media Partners
