Exhibition opening »Berlin/Jerusalem. Schocken’s Gardens«

On Monday, 12 October 2026, at 5 p.m., the opening of the exhibition »Berlin/Jerusalem. Schocken’s Gardens« will take place at the Dubnow Institute. In the panel discussion »Showcasing the Archive«, Dani Hacker (Jerusalem) and Caroline Jessen (Leipzig) will talk about the Schocken Archive in Jerusalem. From 6 p.m., the exhibition opening will take place, featuring welcoming remarks, a brief introduction and the opportunity to view the exhibition at your leisure.

This exhibition focuses on a precarious aspect of the period when Jews were fleeing or emigrating from Germany after the Nazi assumption of power in 1933. From 1936 to 1940, the Schocken family created a huge, walled garden in Jerusalem, which stood as a marked counterweight both to the disruptive force and the annihilation then reigning in Europe.

Following Hitler’s appointment as Reich Chancellor in 1933, Schocken and his wife Lili (1889–1958) decided to leave Germany together with their children; his department stores were sold way below market value in late 1938. Despite the anti-Semitic legislation, Schocken was able to save part of his fortune – not least through the transfer of building materials and plants – as well as the core of his archive to Jerusalem. Many documents record the practical and symbolic significance that the Schockens’ gardens in Berlin and Jerusalem came to hold during those years. 

In the exhibition, the garden – with its familiar and new plants, some imported and others forced to adapt – becomes a symbol of the experience of migration. At the same time, the story we tell in this exhibition is a exceptionalone, not a representative story.

Guided tours
The exhibition can be viewed as part of public and pre-booked guided tours.

First dates: 
Wednesday, 21 October 2026, 1 p.m.; 
Thursday, 5 November 2026, 2 p.m.; 
Wednesday, 11 November 2026, 1 p.m.; 
Friday, 20 November 2026, 4 p.m.; 
Wednesday, 2 December 2026, 1 p.m.; 
Friday, 18 December 2026, 4 p.m.