JÜDISCHES MUSEUM - JEWISH MUSEUM

The Jüdiches Museum - Jewish Museum - is a must-see in reunited Berlin. First of all, the building itself is an architectural curiosity. Many see the building, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, as a dismembered Star of David. The name of the project is "Between the Lines", and it's true that few buildings say as much in so few words.

A large part of the museum in the basement is a memorial, a kind of labyrinth where the walls are leaning and the floor is sloping. The memorial is structured around three axes: Exile, Holocaust and Continuity. The axes lead to different areas that invite contemplation, such as the chilling Holocaust Tower or Garden of Exile, with its 49 asymmetrical columns marking disorientation. The most disturbing room is undoubtedly the one featuring Israeli artist Menashe Kadishman's installation Schalechet (fallen leaves), with its 10,000 metal faces lining the floor. The building as a whole is striking for its diagonals and parallels, and its empty spaces through which the scars of history, loss and absence can be seen.

Since 2020, the permanent, interactive exhibition has been devoted to German-Jewish history and culture from the ^9th century to the present day. The tour begins with the Bible, the founding text of Jewish culture. The tour then takes a more chronological turn. We learn more about "Ashkenas", the medieval name given by Jews to the territory north of the Alps, then about the introduction of printing and the Reformation. The entire history of Germany is traced from a Jewish perspective. The ^18th century saw the beginnings of Haskala, an emancipation movement inspired by the Enlightenment, in which Berlin played a key role with its literary salons. We then descend the stairs of the "Hall of Fame", which focuses on German Jewish personalities (Hannah Arendt, Heinrich Heine, etc.) to reach the section devoted to the tragedies of the ^20th century: Nazi persecution of the Jews, forced exile and the Holocaust. Then comes the post-war period and the impossible return to normality. At the end, a captivating video installation gives a voice to Jews from all over the world, demonstrating their diversity. The exhibition is interspersed here and there with contemporary works.