In my previous post, I told you all about the excitement of participating in the Hive European Blog Conference last weekend in Berlin. But there was also some pre-conference action going on! On Friday evening, Jenni from Museum Diary organized a visit for a small group of us to the Jewish Museum Berlin (who kindly sponsored our tickets). I’ve never been to the museum before, but I’ve heard from many friends that it’s a must-see, so I jumped on the chance to visit with a group of bloggers.
The museum is immense, and consists of two buildings connected together — one older Baroque building and a newer one (completed in 1999) designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind (also responsible for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in New York). The architecture is pretty phenomenal. There are all sorts of diagonals, sloping floors and ceilings, empty voids, and symbolic spaces. Any architecture buffs out there? This is your place!
The museum’s exhibition covers two thousand years of German-Jewish history, presented in a very engaging and interactive way. I have to admit to spending more time chatting with the other Hive bloggers than intensely following the exhibit, but I can easily see myself bringing visitors here, or simply spending a rainy afternoon on my own wandering around.
Also worth checking out is the Garden of Exile, which is an outdoor space consisted of 49 slightly tilting stone pillars, and the foundation tilts slightly in the other direction. Walking through the garden made me feel very queasy and off-balance, and that’s actually the intent. I didn’t take any decent photos, unfortunately, because I felt a bit of a headache coming on and didn’t want to linger in the garden.
Entrance to the museum is only 7 Euros, which is a total steal given the breadth of the exhibition. It’s located in Kreuzberg and pretty easy to reach with the U1 or U6 (Hallesches Tor), or Bus 248 from Alexanderplatz. I will most definitely be back!
Check these posts out too:
- Jenni writes on Museum Diary about our visit and the Hive.
- My thoughts on participating in the Hive.
Have you visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin? What did you think?
I really enjoyed the Jewish Museum when I was there. You are so right about the architecture inside the museum. I remember being very off-balance in the Garden of Exile as well.
Hey, I had no idea you’d already been there! Clearly I’m way behind the time here. :)
I remember this as one of the hard-to-digest museums in Berlin: too big, too much information, too many things to read. The part when you get to walk on the metallic faces of the jews, though, is pretty impressive and serves its purpose. Did you do it?
Hey, thanks for your comment Federico! No, I didn’t see the metallic faces (I think we were chatting too much), but I will have to keep my eyes out for them next time I go. I have the feeling it’s a museum I’ll have to visit several times before I am able to see everything. :)