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The Jewish Museum of Switzerland in
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
provides an overview of the religious and everyday history of the Jews in Basel and
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
using objects of ritual, art and everyday culture from
the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
to the present.


History

The museum opened in 1966 as the first Jewish museum in German-speaking Europe after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. The initiative came from members of Espérance (a
chevra kadisha The term ''Chevra kadisha'' (Modern Hebrew: חֶבְרָה קַדִּישָׁא) gained its modern sense of "burial society" in the nineteenth century. It is an organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of deceased Je ...
) who visited
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
to see the exhibition "Monumenta Judaica" in 1963/64. They discovered that many of the ritual objects on display came from the Basel Judaica collection and decided to present these objects permanently in a Jewish museum in Basel. When it first opened, the museum occupied two rooms at Kornhausgasse 8. The interior designer
Christoph Bernoulli Carl Christoph Friedrich Bernoulli (born 2 October 1897 in Basel; died 9 August 1981 in Rheinfelden) was a Swiss art dealer and interior designer from the Bernoulli family of scholars. Early life Christoph Bernoulli was born in 1897, into the wel ...
furnished the space in an “objective” style. The founding director, Dr.
Katia Guth-Dreyfus Katia is a feminine given name. It is a variant of Katya. Notable people with this name Actresses and models * Katia Dandoulaki, Greek actress * Katia Margaritoglou, Greek fashion model and beauty contestant *Katia Winter (born 1983), Swed ...
, headed the museum for four decades. In 2010 she was succeeded by Dr. Gaby Knoch-Mund. In 2015, Dr. Naomi Lubrich took over as director of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland. Since 2016, Lubrich has re-organized the permanent exhibit, attracted new visitors and gained the museum media attention.


Collection

The first objects shown in the Jewish Museum's exhibition were Judaica collected by the Swiss Museum of Folklore (now Museum der Kulturen Basel). The museum's collection expanded after 1966 to include objects from Basel and the Upper Rhine, from the two Surbtal villages Endingen and Lengnau as well as from the remainder of
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. A noteworthy find, when it comes to the Surbtal valley, are the “ Lengnau Mappot", a collection of 218 Torah binders that span almost three centuries, making them the largest cohesive collection of mappot from a known community. Highlights of the museum's collection include silver ceremonial objects, richly embroidered textiles from the 17th to the 20th centuries and documents from the cultural history of the Jews in Switzerland. The monumental medieval gravestones and the Basel Hebrew prints are important historical testimonies. Documents on the Basel Zionist Congresses and original letters from
Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern po ...
, the author of " Der Judenstaat", show Basel as a city that made world politics. The museum is also collecting contemporary objects — Judaica, art, and objects from everyday life.


Exhibitions

1976: 10 Years Jewish Museum of Switzerland (10 Jahre Jüdisches Museum der Schweiz) 1999: Tefillin 1999-2000: Signs of the Zodiac (Tierkreiszeichen) 2000: The Rabbis Ris. A Family in the Region (Die Rabbiner Ris. Eine Familie in der Region) 2002: Mesusot 2002-2003: Dining on Shabbat (Speisen am Schabbat) 2003-2004: Jewish Wedding Contracts from the Braginsky Collection, Zurich (Jüdische Hochzeitsverträge aus der Braginsky Collection, Zürich) 2004-2005: Anne Frank. A Family History across Borders (Anne Frank. Eine Familiengeschichte über Grenzen) 2005-2006: Chest on the Move. A Jewish Family History from Frankfurt and Basel (Truhe auf Wanderschaft. Eine jüdische Familiengeschichte aus Frankfurt und Basel) 2006-2007: Bringing it into the Light. Acquisitions of the Last 10 Years (Ins Licht gerückt. Sammlungszugänge der letzten 10 Jahre) 2007-2008: Endingen-Lengnau. Traces of the Jewish Rural Communities in Aargau (Endingen-Lengnau. Auf den Spuren der jüdischen Landgemeinden im Aargau) 2009-2009: Strange. Objects that are out of Line (Merkwürdig. Objekte, die aus der Reihe tanzen) 2010-2016: Congratulations. Special Exhibition on the 150th Birthday of Theodor Herzl (HERZLichen Glückwunsch. Sonderausstellung zum 150. Geburtstag von Theodor Herzl ) 2010-2014: "...and Hanna and Sarah" installation by Renée Levy („…und Hanna und Sarah“ Installation von Renée Levy) 2011: From New Moon to Full Moon (Von Neumond zu Vollmond) 2011-2012: In Transition. Bar and Bat Mitzvah (Am Übergang. Bar und Bat Mitzwa) 2012: 1001 Amulet. Protection and Magic - Faith or Superstition? (1001 Amulett. Schutz und Magie – Glaube oder Aberglaube?) 2014-2016: Wanted. Found. Partnership and Love in Judaism (Gesucht. Gefunden. Partnerschaft und Liebe im Judentum) 2016: Swiss Jews. 150 Years of Equal Rights / Voices for Emancipation (Schweizer Juden. 150 Jahre Gleichberechtigung / Stimmen zur Emanzipation) 2016: Jubilee! The Jewish Museum of Switzerland turns 50 (Jubiläum! Das Jüdische Museum der Schweiz wird 50) 2017: Altland. Theodor Herzls European Heritage (Altland. Theodor Herzls europäisches Erbe) 2017: Art after Chagall. The Century after the Breakthrough (in cooperation with Kunstmuseum Basel) (Kunst nach Chagall. Das Jahrhundert nach dem Durchbruch (in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Kunstmuseum Basel)) 2018-2019: The Diary. How Otto Frank Brought Anne's Voice from Basel to the World (Das Tagebuch. Wie Otto Frank Annes Stimme aus Basel in die Welt brachte) 2019: ISREALITIES. Seven Photographic Journeys (ISREALITIES. Sieben fotografische Reisen) 2019-2020: Passports, Profiteers, Police. A Swiss War Secret (Pässe, Profiteure, Polizei. Ein Schweizer Kriegsgeheimnis) 2020: Pandemics and Poetics. A Jewish Dictionary (online) (Pandemie und Poesie. Ein jüdisches Lexikon (online))


Publications

2003: Jüdische Hochzeitsverträge aus Italien 2006: Truhe auf Wanderschaft. Eine jüdische Familiengeschichte aus Frankfurt und Basel 2006: Ins Licht gerückt. Sammlungszugänge der letzten 10 Jahre 2007: Endingen-Lengnau. Auf den Spuren der jüdischen Landgemeinden im Aargau 2010: HERZLichen Glückwunsch! Sonderausstellung zum 150. Geburtstag von Theodor Herzl 2011: Gaby Knoch-Mund et al., Am Übergang. Bar und Bat Mizwa. Wie werden jüdische Kinder und Jugendliche erwachsen? Basel. . 2013: 1001 Amulett. Schutz und Magie – Glaube oder Aberglaube 2014: Gaby Knoch-Mund, Gesucht. Gefunden. Partnerschaft und Liebe im Judentum, Basel. . 2018: Caspar Battegay, Naomi Lubrich, Jüdische Schweiz. 50 Objekte erzählen Geschichte / Jewish Switzerland: 50 Objects Tell their Stories, Basel, Christoph Merian Verlag. 2020: Fabio Luks, CHAI – חי. Oder wenn Grabsteine vom Leben erzählen/CHAI - חי. Or when Gravestones Speak of Life, Biel, edition clandestin. . 2020: Pandemie und Poesie. Ein jüdisches Lexikon. Pandemics and Poetics. A Jewish Dictionary. Biel, edition clandestin. 2021: Naomi Lubrich: ''Passports, Profiteers, Police. A Swiss War Secret.'' edition clandestin ISBN 978-3-907262-09-2


See also

* Museums in Basel * Jews in Switzerland


References


External links


Jewish Museum of Switzerland website

JewishEurope.org

Jewish-Heritage-Europe.eu

Israel Science and Technology Directory.com


{{coord missing, Switzerland Jews and Judaism in Basel Jewish museums Museums in Basel