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A group of people.

How Our Museum Came to Be

...And What Has Happened Since

The idea to found a Jewish museum originated in West Berlin in the period before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The journey from the basic idea to the design of the museum’s permanent exhibition was a long one marked by many disputes. The controversies also reflect the change in the perception of Jewish history against the backdrop of the Holocaust.

The concept, founding, and opening of the Jewish Museum Berlin is largely thanks to the political initiative and commitment of individuals. Many sponsors and donors contributed to establishing and expanding the collection.

Here is an extensive feature article on the history behind our museum’s founding and the political developments that gave it the form it has today. If you can read German and are interested in learning more details about the political history of how we came to be (or prefer to hold a book in your hands), take a look at the volume Von der Hauptstadtposse zur Erfolgsgeschichte (From a Berlin Farce to a Success Story) by Daniel Bussenius (more...).

History of the Museum: Ideas, Debates, Decisions, Inauguration (4)

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  • Ideas, Debates, Decisions, Inauguration

    Here is the four-part history of our origins – from the forced closure of the first Jewish Museum in Berlin in 1938, and the original museum’s inspirational influence on our collecting principles, until the present day.

  • Model of the Liebeskind building.

    How We Came to Be

    West Berlin, 1971: the idea emerged for a Jewish Museum to be connected to the Berlin Museum. Finally, in 1992, the cornerstone was laid for the building dedicated to this purpose and designed by Daniel Libeskind

    History of the Museum
    1971–1992

  • Graphic.

    Controversies and Contradictions

    In the 1990s, the conflicts between advocates of an independent Jewish museum in Berlin and those who saw it as part of the Berlin Museum continually intensified

    History of the Museum
    1990s

  • Portrait of a man.

    Political Decisions

    The appointment of W. Michael Blumenthal as Museum Director and the transfer of the seat of government to Berlin eventually led to an independent Jewish Museum Berlin, which opened on 13 September 2001

    History of the Museum
    2001

  • Aerial view of the academy.

    Since the Museum Opened

    With its exhibitions, publications, educational work, and diverse events calendar, our museum developed into a lively forum for reflecting on Jewish history and culture and, more broadly, on migration and social diversity in Germany

    History of the Museum
    2001 until the present day

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