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Detail from an oil painting: portrait of Moses Mendelssohn in half profile, the eyes are directed at the viewer, the left eye is highlighted by a red frame

“We dreamed of nothing but Enlightenment”

Moses Mendelssohn – Exhibition

Immigrant, Enlightenment philosopher, and self-made intellectual: in his time, Moses Mendelssohn was already a European celebrity and he remains a central figure in German Judaism to this day.

The exhibition told of Mendelssohn’s life in Berlin and showed him as a figure who integrated polarizing forces in the midst of historical upheaval and awakening. 
 

Past exhibition

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

Where, when, what?

All offers for the exhibition

With his Christian and Jewish friends, Moses Mendelssohn discussed philosophical and political questions. As an author he challenged his audience to think critically. As an observant Jew, he linked tradition with Enlightenment ideas, and championed secular education and civil equality for his “Jewish nation.” His translation of the Torah made religious knowledge accessible to all.

The exhibition presented the era of the Enlightenment as a laboratory for radical change, in which human rights, freedom of opinion, and the diversity of individual ways of life were articulated and demanded. With his arguments for the emancipation of Jews, rights for minorities, and the separation of religion and the state, Mendelssohn opened paths into modernity—and provoked questions about Jewish identity that persist to this day.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Federal President of Germany, spoke at the opening festivities.

Johann Christoph Frisch, Portrait of Moses Mendelssohn, Berlin 1783; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession 2013/355/0, photo: Roman März. Further information on this painting can be found in our online collections (in German).

Oil painting: portrait of Moses Mendelssohn depicted in half profile in a painted oval frame, eyes are directed to the viewers.

Johann Christoph Frisch, Portrait of Moses Mendelssohn, Berlin 1783; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession 2013/355/0, photo: Roman März. Further information on this painting can be found in our online collections (in German).
(7 items)

  • On the way to the exhibition, the visitors were accompanied by questions that have preoccupied us since the Enlightenment, even today; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

  • Visitors in front of the animated map of Mendelssohn's Berlin; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

  • View into the exhibition room with Mendelssohn's closest friends and interlocutors; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

  • View of the exhibition room dealing with Mendelssohn's relationship to religion; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

  • View into the exhibition room on the topic of human rights; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

  • View into the exhibition space on aesthetics and friendship; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

  • At the end of the exhibition, visitors got an impression of Moses Mendelssohn as a celebrity, who was already painted many times during his lifetime; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

Staircase with murals from the Moses Mendelssohn exhibition with visitors

On the way to the exhibition, the visitors were accompanied by questions that have preoccupied us since the Enlightenment, even today; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

City map from the Moses Mendelssohn exhibition with visitors

Visitors in front of the animated map of Mendelssohn's Berlin; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

Showcase with books from the Moses Mendelssohn exhibition

View into the exhibition room with Mendelssohn's closest friends and interlocutors; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

Several objects from the Moses Mendelssohn exhibition

View of the exhibition room dealing with Mendelssohn's relationship to religion; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

Portrait paintings from the Moses Mendelssohn exhibition

View into the exhibition room on the topic of human rights; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

Showcases with sculpture and books from the Moses Mendelssohn exhibition

View into the exhibition space on aesthetics and friendship; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

Portrait collection of Moses Mendelssohn with visitors

At the end of the exhibition, visitors got an impression of Moses Mendelssohn as a celebrity, who was already painted many times during his lifetime; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann

Accomanying Program

Moderated by Frederek Musall and with a rotating cast of panelists, the Mendelssohn Discourses took Moses Mendelssohn’s writings as a point of departure for discussions of contemporary issues and debates. Each of the discussion events was devoted to a thematic area: Enlightenment: Fake News, Sentimentality, Reason; Power: Tradition, State, Religion; Media Revolution: The Public Sphere, Celebrity, and the Proliferation of Imagery.

An exhibition of the Jewish Museum Berlin in cooperation with the Mendelssohn Society, Berlin.

Events Program by the Mendelssohn-Gesellschaft

In addition to the Jewish Museum Berlin's programs, the Mendelssohn-Gesellschaft is organizing events accompanying the exhibition. More information and registration here

With the Support of

LOTTO-Stiftung Berlin (Logo)

Exhibition Information at a Glance

  • When 14 Apr to 11 Sep 2022
  • Where Old Building, level 1
    Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin 
    See Location on Map
Cutout from an oil painting: portrait of Moses Mendelssohn in half profile, the eyes are directed at the viewers, the left one is highlighted by a red frame

Exhibition “We dreamed of nothing but Enlightenment” – Moses Mendelssohn: Features & Programs

Exhibition Webpage

Current page: “We dreamed of nothing but Enlightenment” – Moses Mendelssohn: 14 Apr to 11 Sep 2022

Publications

Digital Content

See also