World Jewish News

Photo by Christian Riefling, Dax Fotodesign, Jewish Museum Berlin, jmberlin.de

Popular Jewish Museum of Berlin to get extension

The Jewish Museum of Berlin is to get an extension to its current building which, according to a statement by the museum, is to house “one of the most important research and education centers on the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry.” Since opening in 2001 in central Berlin, the museum has attracted more than six million people from all over the world, with 750,000 visiting in 2009 alone.
In the same period the number of education projects organized by the museum has more than doubled, with thousands of school groups visiting every year in addition to hundreds of educational events taking place. Together with its growing archive and library holdings, this has resulted in an "acute" lack of space, the museum said. The extension, opposite the current site in central Berlin, is to be designed by the New York architect Daniel Libeskind, who already produced the zigzag metal construction of the current museum.
For the extension, a large warehouse currently housing a flower market will be converted. The new extension is due to open in late 2011. The Jewish Museum of Berlin tells the story of Jews in Germany over the last 2,000 years.

WJC