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Jewish Museum Berlin

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travel2000
travel2000
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4 out of 5
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A Disorienting Experience

  • October 19, 2008
  • Rated 5 of 5 by mikro from Liverpool, New York
A Disorienting Experience

Designed by Daniel Liebeskind, this structure is known as the silver lightening bolt. Odd-shaped windows are haphazardly placed in the building's exterior and look out into a vast hollow space. The museum is designed to make the visitor feel a bit dizzy and disoriented, much like the Jewish people felt in exile. I did indeed experience that feeling after several hours in the place.
Your visit begins in the old building and all jackets, bags of any kind, and cameras must be checked. You then descend to the underground level on the new building with its winding corridors and some artifacts. You may enter the Holocaust Tower - an empty, dark, windowless chamber designed to experience the intense void left by the Holocaust. There is also a Garden of Exile, an outdoor maze of remembrance.
Visitors then ascend a stairway to the 2nd floor where the exhibits begin. The museum portrays Jewish life and contributions of Judaism to society over the centuries. You gain a good appreciation of Jewish culture through artwork, objects, photographs and documentation. The horror of the Holocaust and post-WW2 rebuilding of Jewish life are presented as well.
To me, the museum portrayed the significance of Jewish life and culture that was snuffed out, leaving a great void in society. In contrast to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, this museum is more about who the Jews were in the centuries prior to WW2, and not just a memorial to the horrors of their vast annihilation. It is definitely a must-see in Berlin.
Liebermanns Restaurant is on-site, featuring a Kosher menu.

From journal Touring Berlin with an Ex Pat

Editor Pick

Judisches Museum

  • August 26, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by lucinda3 from Alpharetta, Georgia
The Jewish Museum is located in the former West Berlin. From where I stayed at the Westin Grand Berlin, it was walking distance (probably about 25 minutes if you walked straight there).

The architecture of the museum is impressive. There are 2 buildings that make up the museum: an older, traditional building that is the museum entrance and a more modern, multi-floor structure that houses the exhibit.

The museum was designed not only to display the history of the Jews in Germany, but also to allow museum goers the opportunity to experience some of the emotions of their struggles.

Chronologically, the exhibit starts on the top floor. Arrows on the floor guide you through each section.

There is a lot to take in at the museum. If you're really interested in absorbing the rich history, you could easily spend a few hours here.

I found it interesting to look at the story of the holocaust. Although the scale of it is acknowledged in terms of the number of deaths, the extreme suffering a long-term impact on the Jews is mostly glossed over. For such an important time in history, these events are given relatively little space in the large museum.

For the experiential exhibits, there is a "garden" outside. It is built on uneven ground, with tall, concrete blocks rising from it in a grid pattern. The garden is designed to make you feel uneasy about your surrounding and unsure of your next step.

I think the museum is definitely worth going to. It's interesting to see how different cultures interpret historical events.

From journal Bumming Around Berlin

Jewish Museum Berlin

  • August 1, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by BarkinJ from Los Angeles, California
Jewish Museum Berlin

The Jewish Museum is an interesting place. Its architect, Daniel Libeskind, is the child of Holocaust survivors. The building is shaped like a jagged zig-zagged line, with sharp turns and edges. Its windows look like giant gashes on the façade. Libeskind won’t let visitors ever forget his architecture. Inside the museum, the walls take sharp angles at every turn.

It’s a perfect metaphor for understanding Judaism in Germany. The museum is supposed to be about the thousand-plus years of Jewish history, but – like the architecture – you just can’t escape the Shoah.

The museum exhibit itself is a very basic overview of Jewish practice and culture, as well as historical information on Jewish life in Germany. This is not a Holocaust museum. Also, it is not a museum meant for Jews (though Jews may enjoy it). It is meant to educate non-Jews, especially non-Jewish Germans.

From journal An American Jew in Germany

Editor Pick

Jüdisches Museum Berlin

  • March 11, 2005
  • Rated 2 of 5 by panda1 from ., California
Jüdisches Museum Berlin has a unique architectural design that makes for a unique experience walking through the museum. The axis overhead as we started on the lower level had a striking visual impact. There's the Garden of Exile and Emigration outside that consists of 49 pillars arranged in seven rows and seven columns, where you through on an angled surface. Olive branches grow out of each of the pillars to symbolize hope and peace. The Holocaust Tower, a cold, damp, dark concrete room, gives a brief glimpse of what the Jews suffered as they were shut out of the world.

There's a huge collection of photography, artwork, and memorabilia. Even though it shows the bad and horrible events that took place, there's something missing to evoke personal emotion in the viewer.

There is a snack shop serving coffee and truffles.

Admissions: Adults 5€, students and seniors 2,50€, and children under six free. A family ticket (two adults and up to four children) is 10€.

Info: 49 30 25993 300, Fax: 49 30 25993 409

Email: info@jmberlin.de

Tours: fuehrungen@jmberlin.de

Monday 10am to 10pm and Tuesday to Sunday 10am-8pm
Last entry 1 hour prior to closing
Closed
December 24, 2004 (Christmas Eve); October 4 and 5, 2005; and October 13, 2005.


U1 or U6 to Hallesches Tor or the U6 to Kochstraße
Bus nos. M29, M41, and 265

From journal BER

Editor Pick

Jüdisches / Jewish Museum

  • October 3, 2002
  • Rated 4 of 5 by becks from Mexico City, Mexico
Jüdisches / Jewish Museum

The Jewish Museum was designed by Daniel Libeskind and is a very modern and complicated construction. The passages zig-zag and represent a torn Star of David. The layout is full of symbolism and represents complicated philosophical ideas related to the loss of Jewish culture though the holocaust. Frankly speaking this worked better in a video program on this very interesting building that I saw prior to visiting the museum. In reality I found the layout at first a bit complicated and confusing, although very friendly and abundant multilingual staff are willing to point you in the right direction.

The museum surprisingly doesn’t focus on the holocaust but rather on the history of Jews in Germany. The first exhibition area is on Jewish life in medieval Germany, especially in the city of Worms with interesting multimedia displays. From there displays are progressively more recent and trace the role of German Jews in public life as well as major contributions to arts, literature, music, science, commerce, and law.

A large section focuses on various Jewish customs and their development from ancient times into modern practices. I found this section particularly interesting in explaining some of the finer details of concepts that a non-Jew is only vaguely familiar with from films and television programs.

The section on the Nazi era was somewhat smaller than I expected but still comprehensive. Unfortunately circumstances forced us to spend less time here than we were planning to, but still had time to see some interesting displays of the harrowing times.

Visiting the Jewish Museum can in no way be described as an enjoyable experience – the subject matter is simply too disturbing. However, I’m very happy that I did go. Beforehand I had my doubts, but in the end I found the presentation excellent and the information well balanced as far as I could see. I didn’t see anything that looked like propaganda, denial, or blame.

It is wise to travel light when visiting this museum, as you have to go through airport style security. Bags and coats must be checked in. In addition it is a fair walk from the subway station but well worth it.

From journal Summer in Berlin

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