Until November 22, 2020, the Jewish Historical Museum will be transformed temporarily into a cinema from the 1920s and ’30s. The Jewish Cultural Quarter Exhibition Charlotte Salomon in close-up explores the influence of film on Charlotte Salomon’s gesamtkunstwerk Life? or Theatre? A Singspiel.

Charlotte Salomon (1917- 1943) was born into a Jewish family in Berlin, where she studied art. She created her ‘multi-media’ masterpiece, which comprises hundreds of gouache drawings in the South of France after fleeing Nazi Germany. Then she was murdered on arrival in 1943 when she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz. Her parents found Life? or Theatre? in the South of France in 1947. It became world famous, when generations of readers were moved after this was later published and adapted for cinema.

Through this Jewish Cultural Quarter Exhibition Charlotte Salomon, the Jewish Historical Museum hopes to shed new light on Life? or Theatre? Combining film footage from the period with a selection of Salomon’s gouaches in an associative manner affords visitors an insight into the influence that pre-war cinema in Berlin had on her unique artwork.

Salomon’s father, Dr Albert Salomon, and stepmother, the singer Paula Salomon-Lindberg gifted Life? or Theatre? A Singspiel to the Jewish Historical Museum in 1971.

This ticket is valid for all locations of the Jewish Cultural Quarter: The Jewish Historical Museum, Children’s Museum, Portuguese Synagogue, Hollandsche Schouwburg (Holocaust Memorial)

Additional information

• The exhibition Charlotte Salomon in close-up is open until November 22, 2020.
• The Jewish Historical Museum, Children’s Museum and Hollandsche Schouwburg are open daily from 11.00-17.00
• Portuguese Synagogue is closed on Saturdays, Jewish holidays, Kings Day and for special events.
• All locations of the Jewish Cultural Quarter are closed on Kings Day, Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement)