Category Archives: Exhibitions

New publication: Exhibition catalogue “Jüdisches Leben im Mittelalter – Jewish Life in the Middle Ages”

Exhibitions, Publications

Ed. Viola Skiba, Christoph Cluse, Andreas Lehnertz

 Schnell & Steiner, 09/2026

1,000 years ago, a Jewish cultural sphere developed in Central Europe, which was later identified with the Hebrew word ‘Ashkenaz’. From the 10th century onwards, Jewish communities began to emerge in the Rhine region and along the Moselle. Under the protection of the ruling powers, they exerted a powerful influence far beyond their core regions from the 11th to the 14th century. They became driving forces of culture and the economy, shaped the cities and maintained an intensive exchange with Christian society. Trier played a key role as a link to the French-speaking world, as the historic Jewish quarter still bears witness to this day. This exhibition catalogue for the forthcoming exhibition “Jewish Life in the Middle Ages” at the Municipal Museum Trier combines in-depth knowledge of this era with spectacular artefacts. Moving beyond clichés, it brings the eventful everyday life to life and offers fascinating insights into the Jewish-Christian past.

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Exhibition “Jewish Life in the Middle Ages”, Municipal Museum Trier

Exhibitions, News

Municipal Museum Trier, Simeonstraße 60 (adjacent to the Porta Nigra), 11 October, 2026 to 4 April, 2027, Tue-Sun 10am-5pm

The exhibition “Jewish Life in the Middle Ages” at the Municipal Museum Trier and under academic direction of Viola Skiba (Museum), Andreas Lehnertz, and Christoph Cluse (University of Trier), recounts the history of the Jewish community in Trier and its still visible traces in the city such as the historic Jewish quarter with its “Judenpforte” (Jewish Gate). Trier’s Jewish community flourished from at least the 11th century onwards under the protection of the Archbishop and served as a nexus between the Rhine region (including the ShUM cities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz) and the regions of present-day France.

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Inter Judeos – Permanent Open-Air Exhibition in Erfurt’s Jewish Quarter

Exhibitions

Since June 2026, the new permanent exhibition “Inter Judeos” can be seen in Erfurt’s Jewish quarter. Along the 707-meter-long historic walking tour around the UNESCO World Heritage Site, visitors can discover a wealth of new information and fascinating background stories presented through both traditional and multimedia formats—ranging from original medieval artifacts to a theatrical performance and graffiti art.

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Exhibition: Jiddisch/ייִדיש – Von den Anfängen bis zum Buchdruck.

Exhibitions

21 July – 13 September 2026, Erfurt Small Synagogue

Yiddish is primarily a language spoken and written by Jews in German-speaking regions. In its earliest stages, the language developed from various German dialects, which were enriched with Hebrew-Aramaic and Romance elements, and later, at the end of the Middle Ages in the East, with Slavic elements as well. These languages had a major influence on the vocabulary and structure of Yiddish, which is why Yiddish is also referred to as a component language. From the outset, Yiddish was written using Hebrew letters. Modern Yiddish works are mostly written in Eastern Yiddish, while the examples presented here mainly document (early) Western Yiddish. The exhibition aims to show the diversity of early Yiddish from its beginnings to the advent of printing. To this end, various forms of writing in the Yiddish language are presented. Our evidence ranges from glosses and single-word examples, legal texts, short texts, letters and narrative texts to scientific treatises. The different genres impressively demonstrate the diverse use of the early Yiddish language.

The exhibition was curated by the Department of Yiddish Studies and the Junior Professorship in Medieval History, specialising in Jewish history, at the University of Trier, where it was first shown in 2025. It will be on display at the Small Synagogue in Erfurt from 21 July to 13 September 2026. Admission is free and no booking is required.

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Exhibition: Materialisierte Heiligkeit. Jüdische Buchkunst im rituellen Kontext

Exhibitions

19 October 2025 – 25 January 2026, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 8

The Stabi Kulturwerk is presenting selected Hebrew manuscripts from the important Hebraica collection of the Berlin State Library in a new special exhibition. The exhibition offers fascinating insights into the world of Jewish book art and impressively showcases not only masterful design and artistic craftsmanship, but also the cultural and ritual diversity of the contexts in which they were created.

Outstanding pieces come from the famous Erfurt Collection, including artistic micrographs, traces of Christian Hebraism and evidence of ritual Torah production. Among other things, visitors can see the largest Hebrew Bible of the Middle Ages, two exceptionally well-preserved Ashkenazi Torah scrolls and a large-format prayer book from the 14th century.

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Exhibition: Jiddisch/ייִדיש – Von den Anfängen bis zum Buchdruck. 55 Jahre Forschung zum Jiddischen in Trier

Exhibitions

September 1 – October 31 2025, Tier University, Library

Yiddish is primarily a language spoken and written by Jews in German-speaking regions. In its earliest stages, the language developed from various German dialects, which were enriched with Hebrew-Aramaic and Romance elements, and later, at the end of the Middle Ages in the East, with Slavic elements as well. These languages had a major influence on the vocabulary and structure of Yiddish, which is why Yiddish is also referred to as a component language. From the outset, Yiddish was written using Hebrew letters. Modern Yiddish works are mostly written in Eastern Yiddish, while the examples presented here mainly document (early) Western Yiddish. The exhibition aims to show the diversity of early Yiddish from its beginnings to the advent of printing. To this end, various forms of writing in the Yiddish language are presented. Our evidence ranges from glosses and single-word examples, legal texts, short texts, letters and narrative texts to scientific treatises. The different genres impressively demonstrate the diverse use of the early Yiddish language.

The exhibition was conceived in Trier by the Department of Yiddish Studies and the Junior Professorship for Medieval History with a focus on Jewish history and uses parts of the exhibition ‘Vom kalten Keller und falschen Versprechen. Neue jiddische Funde aus dem Mittelalter’, which was shown in Erfurt in 2023.

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