The Jewish Museum Frankfurt owns one of the oldest collections of Jewish cultural artifacts and historical objects in Germany. The museum consists of two buildings at historical sites in the city: the Judengasse Museum, which explores Jewish history and culture in the early modern period amid the remains of the first Jewish ghetto in Europe; and the Rothschild Palais, whose permanent exhibition presents cultural history from the Enlightenment to the present. The highlights of the Rothschild Palais exhibition are the collections of the Frank and Rothschild families, works of art by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim and other Jewish artists, as well as ceremonial objects from synagogues and Jewish households. The narrative that unfolds on a tour of the exhibition is enhanced by personal notes, photographs, films, historical documents, everyday objects, and media installations. The exhibition provides visitors with a panoramic view of history and a visual, cognitive, and emotional experience of the diversity of Jewish life.

The editors: Mirjam Wenzel is the director of the Jewish Museum Frankfurt. Sabine Kößling serves as chief curator of the two permanent exhibitions and director of the exhibition department. Fritz Backhaus is collections director at the German Historical Museum, Berlin.