Jüdisches Museum Berlin - Berlin, Germany
N 52° 30.131 E 013° 23.680
33U E 391034 N 5818106
The Jewish Museum Berlin (Jüdisches Museum Berlin), in Berlin, Germany, covers two millennia of German Jewish history.
Waymark Code: WM9QNP
Location: Berlin, Germany
Date Posted: 09/20/2010
Views: 41
It consists of two buildings. One is the old Kollegienhaus, a former courthouse, built in the 18th century. The other, a new addition specifically built for the museum, designed by world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. This was one of the first buildings in Berlin designed after German reunification. The museum opened to the public in 2001.
The original Jewish Museum in Berlin was founded on Oranienburger Straße in 1933. The Nazi regime closed it in 1938, and it wasn’t until 1975 that an "Association for a Jewish Museum" formed to resurrect the old museum. After an exhibition on Jewish history opened there in 1978, the Berlin Museum, which chronicled the city’s history, established a Jewish Department. Soon thereafter, discussions for constructing a new museum dedicated to Jewish history in Berlin began.
In 1988, the Berlin government announced an anonymous competition for the new museum’s design. A year later, Daniel Libeskind's design was chosen for the commission for what was then planned as a “Jewish Department” for the Berlin Museum. While other entrants proposed cool, neutral spaces, Libeskind offered a radical, zigzag design, which earned the nickname "Blitz."[2]
On July 3, 1991, the Senate of Berlin voted to scrap the Jewish Museum. Financial pressures from unforeseen unification expenses and a serious bid for Berlin to host a future Olympics prompted the Senate's decision to otherwise reallocate the approximately $50 million. The Libeskinds, however, alerted the international press. Influential political and cultural figures, including Benjamin Netanyahu, Teddy Kollek, Jacques Lang, and Marvin Hier, expressed their support for the museum. Due to these pressures, in October 1991, the Parliament of Berlin overruled the Senate and work on the Jewish Museum continued.
Construction on the new extension to the Berlin Museum began in November 1992. The empty museum was completed in 1999 and attracted over 350,000 people before it was filled and opened on September 9, 2001.
The Jewish Museum Berlin has proved to be a focal attraction with 3.5 million visitors in its first five years of existence, making it one of Germany's most visited museums. Offering guided tours, temporary exhibitions, and a diverse calendar of events, including scientific symposia, concerts, talks, workshops for kids and teens to name but a few, the museum has secured its reputation as a lively center for Jewish history and culture.
Theme:
Jewish History
Street Address:
Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin
Food Court: no
Gift Shop: yes
Hours of Operation:
Monday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Tuesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Admittance will be granted until 7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, 9 p.m. on Monday.
Cost: 5.00 (listed in local currency)
Museum Size: Large
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
In order to log this waymark in this category, you must be able to provide proof of your visit. Please post a picture of yourself or your GPSr in front some identifiable feature or point of interest either in the museum, or on the museum grounds.