Reading Room
Opening Hours, Equipment, Requests and Other Information
In the reading room, you can consult the holdings of our archive and our library. The reading room is located in the W. Michael Blumenthal Academy, across the street from the museum.
Opening Hours
|
Tue–Wed |
10 am–5 pm |
|
Thu–Fri |
12 noon–5 pm |
Closing Days
The reading room is closed on the following days:
Where
W. M. Blumenthal Academy, Reading Room
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
Postal address: Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin
Library: Accessing the Open Stacks and Ordering from the Closed Stacks
You can find all our library’s holdings in the Online Library Catalog. A wide range of items are freely accessible on the open shelves, without registration. Other books, especially rare items, are kept in the closed stacks: if the online catalog gives a book’s location as “Rara-Bibliothek,” “Rara-Depot,” or “Depot,” you will need to order it in advance. Please email us or use the registration form to tell us what you would like to view and when you plan to visit the reading room.
Workstations in the reading room of the archive and library; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Roman März
Contact
Reading Room
T +49 (0)30 259 93 560
bibliothek@jmberlin.de
Archive: Researching and Ordering from the Closed Stacks
Some of the archival holdings are already searchable in the online collection. At the reading room, you can carry out more detailed searches on the database, and we have additional finding aids for a large proportion of the collections. For information about the archive holdings and how to access the documents you need, please contact us in advance.
Archive
T +49 (0)30 259 93 332
archive@jmberlin.de
Original photographs are not available in the reading room. To access photos, please contact the photo documentation service. Our library also holds parts of the collection of the Leo Baeck Institute and the Wiener Library. The catalogs will tell you whether your item is available on microfilm in our reading room.
Technical Facilities
Computer workstations and public Wi-Fi are available in the reading room.
Links
We have compiled several lists of recommended links for you, including links to digitized journals and other online resources for researching Jewish topics.
How can I conduct research using the museum’s archive, collections, and library?
Our Reading Room is open to the public. You can also research using our library’s holdings and some of our collection’s holdings online. To view additional holdings, please contact the responsible curators.
Can I borrow books from the library?
We do not lend books. Our holdings can only be viewed in the Reading Room.
Can the museum help me research my family history?
You may use our in-house holdings for research purposes. We have also compiled a directory of links to research opportunities for personal and family research and genealogy.
Is there WiFi Internet access at the museum?
In the museum, you can use a hotspot provided by Deutsche Telekom.
I would like to depict or borrow an object from your collections. Who should I contact?
Your contacts for photo permissions are Valeska Wolfgram and Birgit Maurer-Porat (T +49 (0)30 259 93 433, email: fotodoku@jmberlin.de). Please note that the processing time for requests can take between 4 and 6 weeks.
Loan requests must always be made nine months before the beginning of the exhibition. Requests must be made in writing to the director (Hetty Berg, Stiftung Jüdisches Museum Berlin, Lindenstr. 9-14, 10969 Berlin).
The Library of the Jewish Museum Berlin
- Our Library: Books, films, and more about Jewish art, culture, and history
- Library Catalog (OPAC)
- Our Collection: collection fields at a glance
Information for Visitors
- Current page: Reading Room: Opening hours, catalogs, databases, requesting archive material
- Registration Form: Register to view rare holdings from our library and documents from our archive
- Terms of Use: Requirements for visitors to the archive and library of the Jewish Museum Berlin
- Our Library’s Classification Scheme: The focuses and thematic areas according to which our collection is organized and grouped
- List of Fees: Prices and rates for services at the reading room of our library and archive
Collections and Projects
- Collections on Jewish Art and Culture: Volumes printed by the Soncino Society, the publications of the Centralverein, Hebrew Printing, and special collections on Jewish art and visual culture
- The Artur Brauner Collection: Twenty-one films by the successful film producer
- Digitizing Book Holdings: Publications of the Soncino Society of Friends of the Jewish Book, 2016
- Enlarging and Indexing Our Holdings in Jewish Art: DFG Project on visual and material culture of Judaism, 2013–2018
Digital Content
- Highlights from the Library Collection: A medieval manuscript, a cookbook from 1900, an elaborate Hebrew children’s book and other treasures
- Digital Books: A complete list of our digitized books, in German
- Rare Digital Books: Curated selection of valuable digitized material from our holdings
- Story Time in Our Library: Why Noah Chose the Dove by Isaac Bashevis Singer, 2023
- “Hörmahl:” A Feast for the Ears: Podcast series about Rahel Varnhagen, Lina Morgenstern and other women writers, 2021–2022, in German
See also
- Judaica Portal: Online database of Judaica holdings at various institutions, including our library’s holdings
- Periodicals in the ZDB: Research tool for magazines, newspapers, and databases in German and Austrian libraries
- Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (DDB): Our digitized publications accessible via the DDB
- AG Jüdische Sammlungen: Website of the Jewish Collections working group, in German
- Library Holdings: Search engine for the digitized holdings of our collection, in German
- Literature
- Literature for Children and Young Adults
- Digital Archive of Jewish Authors in Berlin 1933–1945: cooperation (in German)
