Hamburg’s Jewish history dates back over 400 years. From the very beginning, it has been shaped by cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity. The exhibition “People & Places: Hamburg’s Jewish History” takes this multifaceted past as its starting point to shed light on Jewish life in Hamburg, highlighting both its historical depth and its contemporary diversity.
The exhibition focuses on significant locations in Hamburg that illustrate questions regarding the formation and attribution of identities, the experience of belonging and exclusion, and the various political, social, and cultural networks shaping Jewish realities, both historically and in the present. Through historical objects, artistic works, and multimedia formats, the exhibition uses locations such as the Port of Hamburg, the Jewish cemetery, the Salomon Heine House, the Kontorhaus district, and Aby Warburg’s Library of Cultural Studies to demonstrate how cultural, religious, and social positions were negotiated, everyday practices were shaped, and socioeconomic structures took effect.
The exhibition also represents a further step in the ongoing discussion about a Jewish museum in Hamburg.
Other exhibitions on Jewish life in Hamburg:
By presenting a purchased ticket to one of the three exhibitions, guests can receive discounted admission to one of the other two exhibitions upon presentation at the respective ticket counter.
Museum am Rothenbaum – Kulturen und Künste der Welt (MARKK)
“Label: Jewish – Questioning MARKK´s History”
28th August 2026 until 27th June 2027
Drawing on the collection of the Hamburg Society for Jewish Folklore, long thought to be lost, as well as the museum’s own holdings, the exhibition “Label: Jewish – Questioning MARKK´s History” traces the stories of objects and people from the early 20th century to the present day. It questions the museum’s classification of “Jewish objects” and its role during the Nazi era. Findings from provenance research also direct attention to contemporary perspectives.
Bucerius Kunst Forum
“From Monet to Picasso. Jewish Art Collectors in Germany”
11th September 2026 until 29th March 2027
The exhibition From Monet to Picasso. Jewish Art Collectors in Germany reconstructs 15 important art collections assembled by German Jews before 1945. It brings together many of their modernist masterpieces, now scattered around the world. Around 100 works by artists such as Paul Cezanne, Lovis Corinth, Ferdinand Hodler, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franz Marc, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Max Pechstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Milly Steeger, and many others, are presented from September 2026 till March 2027 in the Bucerius Kunst Forum.
Supported by
