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Golem

Selected Texts From Our Catalog

Our major exhibition about the best-known figure in Jewish folklore, the golem, tells a story that has inspired generations of artists, filmmakers, and writers. The exhibition presents the golem, a man-made being endowed with superhuman powers, in its many forms: from its appearances in early Jewish mystical texts to its various manifestations in popular culture.

“It is said that the golem lives everywhere and in all times.” (David Frishman, The Golem, 1922)

Central to the golem legend is the human desire to create, together with a range of themes including creativity, control, power, and salvation.
The exhibition demonstrates the thematic richness of the material, as is apparent from medieval manuscripts, many-layered narratives, and works of art from the last two hundred years. The golem symbolizes each era's dreaded dangers and hopes for redemption. The exhibition uses the golem figure to examine topics like creativity, creation, power, and redemption. Whether in painting, sculpture, object art, video, installation art, photography, or illustration, the golem is very much alive and, with it, the question of what it means to be human.

In this catalog, experts from a variety of disciplines describe their associations with the objects in the exhibition. The volume is completed with excerpts from literary texts that have shaped the image of this legendary figure.

The catalogue is published by the Jewish Museum Berlin and the Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld. Its print version is German only, but several texts can be read on our website.

Cover of the Golem Catalog

GOLEM Catalog Cover

Content

  1. Introduction: The Golem in Berlin by Peter Schäfer
  2. Chapter 1: The Golem Lives On by Martina Lüdicke
  3. Chapter 2: Jewish Mysticism by Emily D. Bilski
  4. Chapter 3: Transformation by Emily D. Bilski
  5. Chapter 4: Legendary Prague by Martina Lüdicke
  6. Chapter 5: Horror and Magic by Martina Lüdicke
  7. Chapter 6: Out of Control by Emily D. Bilski
  8. Chapter 7: Doppelgänger by Martina Lüdicke

Citation recommendation:

Jüdisches Museum Berlin/Jewish Museum Berlin (2016), Golem. Selected Texts From Our Catalog.
URL: www.jmberlin.de/en/node/4680

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The Golem in Berlin

by Peter Schäfer

Introduction

The Golem Lives On

With Texts by Martina Lüdicke, Anna-Dorothea Ludewig, Louisa Hall and Caspar Battegay

Chapter 1

Jewish Mysticism

With Texts by Emily D. Bilski and Martina Lüdicke

Chapter 2

Transformation

With Texts by Emily D. Bilski, Christopher Lyon, Rita Kersting, Jorge Gil and David Musgrave

Chapter 3

Legendary Prag

With Texts by Martina Lüdicke, Peter Schäfer, and Harold Gabriel Weisz Carrington

Chapter 4

Horror and Magic

With Texts by Martina Lüdicke, Karin Harrasser, Cathy S. Gelbin, Helene Wecker and Anna Augustin

Chapter 5

Out of Control

With Texts by Emily D. Bilski, Arno Pařík, Marc Estrin and Charlotta Kotik

Chapter 6

Doppelgänger

With Texts by Joshua Cohen, Tracy Bartley, Cosima Wagner

Chapter 7

Museum Publications

Exhibition catalogs, the JMB Journal, book series, and more

All About ...

Golem Catalog – Print Version

The full version of our catalog is available in German.

Publication

GOLEM

Trailer, views of the exhibition, and more

Exhibition
23 Sep 2016 to 29 Jan 2017

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Golem