German and Jewish (2016)
An exhibition by the Leo Back Institute New York at the German Emigration Center
The Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein in a completely different light: private and as a child. Seen with his sister Maja on two chocolate drinking cups made for the family at the end of the 19th century. Albert Einstein emigrated to the USA after the Nazis came to power – the two chocolate cups packed in his luggage. After his death, his assistant gifted them to the Leo Baeck Institute (LBI).
The research institute for the history of German-speaking Jews, with locations in New York, Jerusalem, London, and Berlin, is now bringing the physicist’s cups back to Germany. In the exhibition “German and Jewish,” the LBI presents various items from its collection. A protection letter from 1777, the protocol book of a charity founded in Berlin in 1792, a portrait of Bertha Pappenheim, and Einstein’s chocolate cups. – These everyday objects provide insights into historical events from the perspective of their owners. They symbolize snapshots of the diverse history of Jews in Germany and reflect the changing character of German-Jewish life over the centuries.
For over 1,000 years, Jews have been an inseparable part of German-speaking regions. Their achievements helped shape modern Germany: as witnesses to significant historical events and as contributors to extraordinary intellectual and cultural achievements, the Jewish population also experienced how fanaticism, intolerance, and discrimination in Germany led to unimaginable destruction. The LBI exhibition reminds of the rich history of German-speaking Jews as a component of German history.
After the kickoff in Bremerhaven, the exhibition will be shown in Felsberg, Freiburg, Erfurt, and Frankfurt.