Publishing Department

The publication accompanies a temporary exhibition dedicated to the pre-war Jewish Museum in Berlin – its history, collections, and in particular its iconographic archive. This extraordinary project was intended to document Jewish life in all its manifestations – to constitute a visual heritage collected on thousands of boards.

The first part of the catalogue contains articles devoted to the history of the Jewish community in Berlin, the creation and interpretation of the museum’s collections, the activities of the institution, and the post-war fate of the collection. 

The second part presents a thematically organised selection of photographs and drawings. It includes objects related to the museum – its architecture and exhibitions, a portrait gallery, as well as boards depicting social and cultural life. There are also photographs and engravings of synagogues, cemeteries and religious objects. A large part of the collection consists of reproductions of works by painters and sculptors.

The ceremonial opening of the Jewish Museum in Berlin took place on 24 January 1933—just one week before the National Socialists came to power in Germany. The Museum, together with the community library and administrative offices, was located in Oranienburger Straße, right next to the New Synagogue erected in 1866 — a monumental, richly ornamented building in the neo-moorish style and one of the largest synagogues in Germany.

Although the first Jewish museums in Europe had begun to appear as early as the late 19th century (similar institutions were established in Wrocław, Kassel, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Prague, Warsaw, Vienna), the Berlin Museum distinguished itself from the rest through its engagement with modern art. The institution’s aim was not only to preserve and care for the past, but also to promote the current artistic production. Its interests extended beyond religious themes and ritual objects to include sculptures and paintings by contemporary artists. The Museum soon became one of the largest of its kind in Europe, offering a comprehensive perspective on Jewish heritage. Jewish newspapers praised the scale of the collection, emphasising its diversity and broad chronological range, spanning many historical periods.

The Museum became an important centre of Berlin’s cultural life. It also served as a safe haven — a meeting point fostering integration within the local Jewish community. In addition to the exhibition in the building in Oranienburger Straße, concerts and encounters with artists were organised, including a meeting with the painter and graphic artist Meta Cohen Hendel (1883–1970).

The Museum’s activities came to an abrupt end. After the night of 9/10 November 1938, the Gestapo seized the institution’s property. That same evening, an attempt was made to set fire to the New Synagogue adjacent to the Museum. Beginning in 1939, the Reich Office for Genealogy (Reichssippenamt) used the General Archive of German Jews, housed in the Museum building, as well as the records of the Berlin Jewish Community for the purpose of verifying individuals’ origins — issuing the so-called Aryan certificates or denying them. In 1940, the Wehrmacht converted the synagogue into a warehouse. Soon afterwards, the Gestapo established a detention and interrogation centre in the community building.

- Excerpt from the curatorial text by Marta Kapełuś

Exhibition Images of Identity. The Collection of Berlin’s Pre-War Jewish Museum

10^th  April 2026 -  30^th November 2026