Follow the Function?

2025-12-18 – 2026-11-29

Cabinet presentation

Ostend - View into a Jewish quarter

2026-04-26 – 2026-11-29

Exhibition in the bunker at the Friedberger Anlage

Armin Stern: Painter and Zionist

2026-03-26 – 2027-01-03

Cabinet exhibition

The Old Jewish Cemetery on Rat-Beil-Straße

2026-11-05 @ 15:00

The Jewish cemetery on Rat-Beil-Straße is one of the most beautiful in the Rhine-Main region. It was opened in 1928 at the southern end of Frankfurt’s Main Cemetery. Today, it contains more than 30,000 graves. The guided tour takes you to the graves of well-known and lesser-known figures, including members of the Rothschild family, Daniel Oppenheim, and the financier Charles Hallgarten. Meeting place: Old Jewish Cemetery, entrance on Rat-Beil-Straße, 60435 Frankfurt am Main. Please register…

Rimonim from Around the World: The Cymbalista Collection of Tora Ornaments

2026-11-05 @ 18:00

For 45 years, Shoah survivor Norbert Cymbalista (born in 1926 in Worms) has been tracking down rimonim (Hebrew for “pomegranates”), which are placed atop a Torah scroll like a crown. “Rimonim from Around the World: The Cymbalista Collection of Torah Finials” offers a unique window into the diversity of Jewish ritual art and combines aesthetic fascination with a transnational perspective on Jewish culture. With the presentation…

Yoga at the Museum

2026-11-05 @ 18:30

Every Thursday, the Jewish Museum’s library hosts a “Body Relaxation” session. In cooperation with Makkabi Frankfurt, participants spend 75 minutes on mats in this bright and inviting space—ideally, you’ll bring your own mat. You can book a trial session or a series of yoga evenings at makkabi-frankfurt.de/abteilung/yoga. No membership is required.

The Act as Image: Photographs from the Łódź Ghetto

2026-11-05 @ 19:00

The 500 color slides from the German ghetto administration in Łódź have been in the Jewish Museum’s possession for more than 35 years. They constitute an extraordinary—and at the same time challenging—part of our photo collection. Taken by an employee of the German ghetto administration, the slides are a unique source for the history of the ghetto. The photos were intended to demonstrate the superiority of the German occupiers, but they also serve as documents of living conditions in the ghetto.…

From the Pfau Mine to the Golden Apple

2026-11-07 @ 15:00

The tour from the Judengasse Museum to the “Golden Apple” follows the former Judengasse, the center of Jewish life in Frankfurt from the 15th through the 18th century. We’ll search for traces of that history throughout the city. The focus is on artifacts from the 1987 excavations, now housed in the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum’s collection: tableware, stove tiles, dice, and a comb—all recovered from cellars and wells—bear witness to the lives of the former residents. In the vaulted cellar of the “Goldener Apfel,” built in 1809 by Joseph Moses Rindskopf, we’ll see…

Boycotted: Jewish Artists and Scholars Caught Between Marginalization and Resistance

2026-11-08 @ 11:00

A symposium organized by the Institute for New Social Sculpture featuring lectures by Prof. Norbert Frei, Prof. Emile Schrijver, and Prof. Julia Bernstein; a conversation between Dr. Rachel Salamander and Prof. Eva Illouz; workshops; and an artistic presentation by Ido Feder & The Boycottables. “Escalate all BDS campaigns immediately!” the BDS network posted on October 7, 2023. Three years later, a “silent” boycott has long since joined the explicit boycott, with dramatic consequences for Israeli…

Lighting Design and City Palace – The Architecture of the Jewish Museum

2026-11-08 @ 14:00

The Jewish Museum blends the old and the new, combining a historic 19th-century townhouse with a modern building through which light streams. For this, it was awarded the most prestigious architecture prize, the “Große Nike,” by the Association of German Architects (BDA) in 2022. How does the perception of the exterior differ from that of the interior? And what design elements and materials characterize the interior architecture? Participation is…

Under Pressure: Cultural Institutions Caught Between Boycotts and the Culture War

2026-11-08 @ 19:00

While calls for boycotts and “culture war” strategies may stem from opposing political camps, they have much in common: They restrict creative freedom and politically interfere with the programming and public image of cultural institutions in order to reshape them according to their own agenda. What can cultural institutions do to counter this? What conditions do they need to continue offering safe spaces for diverse and thought-provoking reflection? These and other questions…

Democratic Education, Jewish Values, and a Humanistic Ethos: On the Anniversary of the Passing of Micha Brumlik, may his memory be a blessing.

2026-11-10 @ 19:00

BOOKED OUT : Unfortunately, the event is already fully booked. We are pleased about the great interest. Contrary to the original announcement, only Rabbi Prof. Dr. Elisa Klapheck will lead through the evening and devote herself to Brumlik's writings, positions and their significance today in the context of the first anniversary of his death. Micha Brumlik (1947-2025) was not only a person who enjoyed arguing intensively with other people. As a philosopher, educationalist and publicist...

Dealing with anti-Semitism

2026-11-12 @ 17:00

In light of current events, the Jewish Museum has added a guided tour on Jewish counter-strategies and reactions to Jew-hatred to its tour program. Although the European Enlightenment ended the power of the Church, it did not end Christian anti-Judaism. This was perpetuated in new anti-Jewish ideas, which towards the end of the 19th century described themselves as anti-Semitism and are currently very popular - both in the form of Israel-related hostility towards Jews and...

In the Footsteps of Jewish Artists and Patrons

2026-11-15 @ 14:00

Frankfurt’s Baroque city fortifications were demolished in the early 19th century. In their place, an English-style landscape park was created—the “Anlagenring” surrounding the city center. Today, this green space also serves as a sculpture park. A walking tour from the Jewish Museum to the Alte Oper highlights the works by Jewish artists such as Benno Elkan, Yael Bartana, and Sol LeWitt located in this section of the Anlagenring, as well as the Fairy Tale Fountain, donated by the chemical manufacturer Leo Gans…

"I Was Eva Diamant"

2026-11-15 @ 15:00

At the age of 12, Eva Szepesi was liberated from Auschwitz in 1945. In *I Was Eva Diamant*, the 94-year-old recounts her childhood in Budapest, the discrimination she faced as a Jew, the loss of her family, and her survival in the concentration camp. The striking illustrations by Stephanie Lunkewitz make this difficult topic more accessible, especially to young people. The event, designed for families with children ages 12 and up and adults, combines a reading and a discussion with Eva Szepesi and…

Queer-Feminist Leadership

2026-11-15 @ 15:00

Michal Schwartze and Irina Ginsburg explore Jewish-queer perspectives. What were—and are—the conceptions of gender and sexuality within the Jewish community? What social constructs and counter-narratives do the objects reveal? What limits do we encounter in our shared search for alternative ways of engaging with these issues? Participation is included with museum admission. Please register at: juedischesmuseum.de/tickets

The Festival Hall in November 1938

2026-11-16 @ 18:00

During the November pogroms of 1938, the Secret State Police, the SA, and the SS deported more than 3,000 Jews from Frankfurt to the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps. Most of the men were forcibly taken to the Festhalle before the transports, where they were subjected to humiliation and severe abuse. The guided tour provides information about these acts of violence at the historic site; in addition, the documentary “Julius Meyer – November 1938” by director Heiko Arendt will be shown. Mon, 16th…

OUT OF THE BOX: Gisèle Freund

2026-11-26 @ 18:00

The exhibition offers new perspectives on Gisèle Freund through the museum’s own collection from the estate of Hans Puttnies, which is on public view for the first time. “OUT OF THE BOX” showcases not only the pioneer of the 35mm camera, but also the scholar and journalist. Gisèle Freund made a name for herself particularly through her color portrait photographs. Her early photographs display an aesthetic versatility and a spirit of experimentation that have so far received little…

“We endured it all, thinking of this day”

2026-11-26 @ 19:00

“We endured it all with this day in mind” / Stories of Flight and Exile by Jewish Women Photographers Gisèle Freund escaped Nazi persecution as a Jewish woman and political photographer by fleeing from Frankfurt to Paris and later on to Argentina. “…and we endured it all with this day in mind,” she wrote in a travel journal from July 1941, describing her life-saving arrival in Buenos Aires. Already in Paris, she had built a network that enabled her…

Golden Apple – A Forgotten Vaulted Cellar on Börnestraße

2026-11-28 @ 15:00

In 1809, Joseph Moses Rindskopf acquired a plot of land at the northern end of Judengasse. This had previously been devastated by French revolutionary troops during the war against the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt. Rindskopf built a prestigious stone house on the rubble of five burnt-down houses. One of the destroyed houses was called the Goldener Apfel. Its stones were used to build the vaulted cellar, in which today a keystone with the inscription "IMR 1809" commemorates the...

Lights, Colors, Hanukkah

2026-11-29 @ 11:00

Children and adults work together to design creative greeting cards for Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. Using various printing techniques, they create colorful designs featuring Hanukkah menorahs, lights, and other festive symbols. In the process, participants learn about the history and customs of the holiday in a fun and engaging way. Whether as a personal greeting or a small keepsake—the cards they design themselves can be taken home and bring a bit of Hanukkah light into everyday life. The event…

“Chanukkatz or Ruth, Hanukkah, and the Cat Miracle”

2026-11-29 @ 14:00

A Story by Lena Kugler On the first evening of Hanukkah, little Ruth gets a secret visit from a cat. But where will she get food for the cat? And will her parents let her keep the cat? Lena Kugler tells the story of the Hanukkah miracle and, through poetic language, brings this Jewish holiday and its rituals to life. Graphic artist Hermann Hülsenberg has illustrated the story with beautiful, childlike illustrations. Admission is free, but seating is limited. Therefore…

Remembering the Mass Deportations from Frankfurt

2026-12-02 @ 16:00

From 1941 to 1945, the Gestapo used the basement of the Grossmarkthalle (central market hall) as a gathering point for Jews who were to be deported. Nearly 10,000 people were forcibly taken from here to ghettos and concentration and extermination camps. The memorial commemorates these events and the significance of the site. It is located on the grounds of the European Central Bank and is partially open to the public. Read more about the memorial here. You can register for our public…

The Nazis, the Rabbi, and the Camera

2026-12-03 @ 19:00

“Pessimistic musings don’t get anyone anywhere,” says photographer and rabbi Frank Dabba Smith. Even as a young man, he traveled to Germany to learn about the history of the company that had sparked his greatest passion: the Leica 35mm camera. He convinced the family of the company’s founder, Leitz, to find out what their grandfather had done during the Nazi era—when many of his own family members were murdered in the extermination camps…

Exhibition Highlights

2026-12-04 @ 16:00

Frankfurt’s Jewish history from 1800 to the present day is multifaceted and dynamic. The exhibition highlights the achievements of emancipation and the transition to the modern era, while also revealing the close connection between the Enlightenment and modernization and the hostility toward Jews that ultimately led to the Shoah. The tour provides an overview of the themes of the permanent exhibition and tells the story of the museum as it presents the exhibition’s key…