Opened in Berlin in 2001, Europe's largest Jewish Museum is one of the most striking examples of contemporary architecture. The sparkling, triumphant, steel-clad structure is a symbolic memorial in its own right. The museum presents the history of Jews in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present.

A centre for German Jewish history and culture
The remarkable museum building created by the architect Daniel Libeskind is also a monument to the life of the Jewish people, its design based on half a Star of David. The extravagant structure sets a new benchmark, for the relationship between the museum collections and the architecture is unique. The construction of the Jewish Museum has seen the creation of a building full of metaphor, a true cause for contemplation. The exhibition gives visitors an insight into the fateful lives of the Jews, full of tolerance yet also persecution, of great accomplishments and wretched injustice. They saw both significant progress and tragic regression and ostracism.

The autonomous Jewish Museum consists of two buildings, connected by underground passages. The permanent historical exhibition presents 2,000 years of Jewish culture and German-Jewish history on an area of approximately 3,000m², focusing on flight, expulsion and new beginnings, and especially the forced exodus of German Jews. The library holds numerous historical books about the religion and history of the Jews and the archive stores around 700 volumes of documents and photos of the fates of individuals and families between the 18th century and today. The Judaica collection comprises representative ceremonial objects in a wide range of media, including textiles, works on paper and metalwork. Workshops and discussions, readings and concerts - a varied events programme completes the museum's exhibition.
» www.jmberlin.de

A selection of other museums of religion in Germany.