In Munich, a Jewish museum has been opened.

Munich (Germany) - A Jewish museum was ceremoniously opened in Munich today. The mayor of the Bavarian metropolis, Christian Ude, described the construction of the museum, which cost 13.5 million euros (approximately 377 million crowns), as one of the most significant projects in the city in the past ten years.
    Next to the synagogue, which was opened last November, the new city museum forms part of the building complex of the Jewish Centre at Jakobsplatz in the historic center of Munich.
    The museum aims to convey the everyday life of the Jewish community to contemporaries and sends out "a signal that the life of Jews and Jewish culture are an integral part of the city of Munich and our republic", stated the co-chairs of the German Greens, Claudia Roth and Reinhard Bütikofer, at the ceremonial event.
    In addition to a permanent exhibition, the museum, which has an exhibition area of approximately 900 square meters, will host thematic exhibitions that will take place during the first year of the institution under the motto "Images from the Collections". The first such exhibition will be titled "The Jewish World and the Wittelsbachs" and will be dedicated to one of the oldest German noble families and its relationship with Judaism. Another exhibition will showcase items from the estate of Jewish Alfred Pringsheim, the father-in-law of writer Thomas Mann.
    Among the invited honorary guests at the museum's opening today was the chairwoman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch. Ude emphasized that the opening of the museum fulfills a vision that honorary citizen Knobloch has been fighting for since the 1980s.
    According to Ude, the Jewish Center represents "an extraordinary enrichment of the old city of Munich" and significantly contrasts with the loss of essence in many historical city cores. The museum, according to the mayor, is intended to spark interest in the life of Jews and their culture.
    Approximately 3,000 Jews from Munich were sent to concentration camps in Lithuania, Poland, and the Czech Terezin during the last years of World War II.

> www.juedisches-museum.muenchen.de