Passover celebrates the liberation of the Jews from pharaonic slavery and their exodus from Egypt. The story, from II. Moses tells of the Israelites’ suffering, of their hasty departure with Pharao's army in hot pursuit, of their wandering through the desert as well as the plagues inflicted by God on the Egyptians.
Passover takes place in the spring and begins with a seder: a long, ritualized meal. Family and friends read from the Haggadah, which recounds the story of the holiday; they sing and eat. Passover is also called the "celebration of unleavened bread:" in memory of the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt, they are forbidden to eat and drink leavened food and beverages for seven days.
Exhibition about Passover on Children’s Island (until 2017)
Passover display case: Moses begs Pharaoh to let his people go.
Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
Passover commemorates the enslavement of the Jews and celebrates their exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah describes the sequence of the ceremonial seder meal.
Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
There are six foods on the seder plate. One of them, called charoset, is a sweet paste made of made of fruits and nuts. It symbolizes the mortar that Jews used to make bricks during their years of bondage.
Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
Passover display case: Moses begs Pharaoh to let his people go.
Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
Passover commemorates the enslavement of the Jews and celebrates their exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah describes the sequence of the ceremonial seder meal.
Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
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Mazze, Seder Plates and Historical Photographs
Passover objects in our collections online (in German)
Online Collections
Passover in Times of Corona
How did you celebrate in 2020 and what was different in 2021? Explore the submissions so far and contribute to our collection yourself!
Contemporary History Collection
2020/21
Across Mannheim in the Matzo-Mobile
David Studniberg about the great feeling to support others in difficult times
Firsthand Story
Apr 2020
Seder Plate by Harriete Estel Berman
A feminist Passover custom
From our Holdings
Passage through the Red Sea
Illustration from a Passover Haggadah
From our Holdings
The Big Clean-Up
Dana Akrish writes about passover in Jerusalem
Essay
2018
A Kind of Family Gathering
Bitter Herbs and Their Relatives in the Diaspora Garden
Essay
2017
A Small Window onto History
A newly acquired Passover Haggadah and its previous owners in Kreuzberg
Behind the Scenes
2014/2016
“Go down Moses” and an Orange on the Seder Plate
Cilly Kugelmann on old and new customs for Passover
Essay
2013
First Family Self-Portrait during Passover
Tamar Lewinsky talks with the artist who submitted the photo for our collection
Interview
2021