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Collection Jewish Object: Material Culture

An unusual wedding gift, practice signs from half a century ago, a carnival hat, and more: discover exciting stories in our Material Culture collection! 

  • Blue and white flag with Star of David on the blue background.

    Flag with the Star of David

    In 1935, Martin Friedländer hung a blue and white flag from his window, making a confident statement against the racist Nuremberg Laws

  • Two busts made of red, transparent glass. The one on the left depicts Karl Marx, the one on the right Ferdinand Lassalle. Between them is a dark brown wooden music box.

    “Now we’ll follow the intrepid path that Lassalle led us to!”

    On the Anniversary of the Death of Politician and Publicist Ferdinand Lassalle

  • Model of a ship.

    Model of the Cargo Steamer Max

    The Hamburg shipowner Arnold Bernstein received this model of his first ship in 1929 as a gift for his company's tenth anniversary. Eight years later, his career ended abruptly. He was detained and only managed to escape Germany at the last minute

  • Photo of three medals on a velvet cushion.

    Max Haller’s Collection of Medals

    Max Haller fought in the First World War for the Imperial German Navy. When SA members threatened him during the April Boycott of 1933, he pointedly placed a velvet cushion with his military distinctions in the shop window

  • Dark-brown cardboard key containing a rolled-up piece of paper

    Cardboard Key for the Korants’ Wedding

    Margarete Apt and Georg Korant received an unusual gift for their wedding on 4 October 1903 in Breslau. The dark brown key is made of cardboard and can be opened

  • A blue sign with text.

    Dr. Oscar Hirschberg’s Office Signs

    A total of seven office signs used by Dr. Oscar Hirschberg document both his career as a practicing physician and the political changes and antisemitic exclusion during the period of Nazi rule

  • Brown-leather wallet with thirty-one keys spread out.

    The Sommerfelds’ Thirty-One Keys

    Thirty-one keys – that's all that remains of the luggage the Sommerfeld family took with them when they emigrated from Berlin. They only managed to leave for England at the very last minute – just before the Second World War broke out

  • Bronze statue of a rower.

    Challenge Trophy from the Oberspree Jewish Rowing Club

    The member of the Oberspree Jewish rowing club who logged the most kilometers in the water over the course of a year was awarded a challenge trophy. Fred Eisenberg won the award three years in a row

  • mask with glued-on dreidel made from beads

    Masks? Cool!

    Europe-wide Competition of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation: Children Turn Masks into Pieces of Art

  • Handmade blue-white-red "Krätzchen" of the Köllsche Kippa Köpp Jewish carnival society, left side open

    Collecting the Present

    Krätzchen Carnival Cap (Kölsche Kippa Köpp Carnival Society), gift of Aaron Knappstein, 2019

Hashtag #JMBerlin

Source: https://www.jmberlin.de/en/list-selected-objects-from-the-material-culture-collection
Printed on: 06/29/2026