27. November 2025
director's column
A Jubilee Year at the Jewish Museum Vienna: Reflection, Remembrance, and Dialogue
by Barbara Staudinger
A very special year is coming to an end: A jubilee year in which we celebrated the 130th anniversary of the opening of the world’s first Jewish museum. As is often the case on such occasions, we set ourselves ambitious goals.. The year began with a fundraising gala held in New York on November 9, 2024, in commemoration of the November pogroms. At the invitation of Christie’s, we were able to host the event on their beautiful premises at Rockefeller Center. Just days earlier, the U.S. election had taken place, the new president had already been decided, and traditionally Democratic New York was accordingly unsettled. What would the world be facing next?
That sense of uncertainty I experienced in New York at the time accompanied our work at the Jewish Museum Vienna throughout 2025 as well – albeit under different circumstances. Despite many highlights and wonderful moments, uncertainty remained a constant presence. Back in November 2024, Israeli hostages had already been held captive in the Gaza Strip for over a year. Until October 13, 2025, Jewish communities around the world lived in fear for the fate of the hostages, fought for their release, and shared in the suffering of their families and friends, whose appeals grew ever more desperate. At the same time, the situation in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip became increasingly hopeless: humanitarian aid could no longer reach the population, and hunger prevailed. The eventual release of the remaining living hostages and the ceasefire agreement brought only brief relief, as the prospect of lasting peace remained – and still remains – uncertain.
What endured were deeply divided societies worldwide, a dramatic rise in antisemitism, and growing fear within Jewish communities in Europe and in Austria. These developments shaped not only 2025, but will likely continue to do so in the years ahead.
Museums are political spaces. They do not merely reflect public discourse; they also accompany, shape, and moderate it. We carefully considered how to address the changes in the world and in Vienna after October 7, 2023, not only by telling these stories, but by encouraging people to reflect, engage in dialogue, and encounter one another on equal footing. Our mission as a museum is not to deepen societal divisions, but to connect people.
Our installation in the museum’s Project Space, No Room for Discussion? An Intervention about the World since October 7, 2023, brought together Jewish and Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian, European and Viennese voices. It was a plea for tolerance, for enduring differing opinions, accepting diverse experiences, and engaging in respectful dialogue. In this focused intervention, this approach proved effective. Visitors were invited to share how they perceived the exhibition or how their world had changed since October 7, 2023. One English-language entry has remained especially vivid in my memory: “I am just a Jewish child, I cannot change anything. So all I can do is cry.”
A space dedicated to the grief and shock from a Jewish perspective had already been part of the exhibition The Third Generation: The Holocaust in Family Memory. This exhibition generated an extraordinary response, with numerous messages from around the world and many new connections with people whose ancestors came from Vienna. Despite all uncertainty, it reaffirmed something essential: the Jewish Museum Vienna is an important place for many – a place that brings people together.
As with the Project Space installation, visitors were also invited to contribute to our anniversary exhibition G*d. Reflections between Heaven and Earth. Made possible by the generosity of numerous sponsors and featuring exceptional Judaica and international works of art, the exhibition approached the phenomenon of God through seven questions. Regardless of one’s personal relationship to the divine, it offered ample space to reflect on the fundamental questions of human existence and to leave one’s thoughts at the interactive station Eclipse of God?
Today, many people – believers and non-believers alike, Jewish as well as non-Jewish – are deeply concerned about the state of the world. These reflections are often accompanied by fear, as shown in our carefully curated eponymous exhibition at Museum Judenplatz.
In 2025, Austria commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of the World War II and liberation from National Socialism. Across Europe, memorial sites commemorate the atrocities of the war and the crimes of the Holocaust. But is our culture of remembrance sufficient? What do we remember, and what have we suppressed? How do we remember, and how do we conduct ourselves in acts of commemoration? These and many other questions are addressed in the thoughtful photographs by Roger Cremers in the exhibition Where Have All The Flowers Gone...
80 years after the war – photographs by Roger Cremers, on view until January 16.
Jubilee years come to an end, but they also mark the beginning of something new. On November 23, we concluded the anniversary year with an open house offering free admission and a full program of guided tours and educational activities. Many visitors joined us that day. I had numerous meaningful conversations and answered many insightful questions. Visitors were particularly curious about our new temporary exhibition Black Jews, White Jews? On Skin Color and Prejudice, which opened up an entirely new (Jewish) world for many. This exceptional exhibition can be visited until April 26 2026.
Looking back, 2025 was marked by many uncertainties, but also by many beautiful moments, both inside and outside the museum. Exhibition openings, stimulating discussions with guests such as Ronen Steinke, Götz Aly, and Eva Illouz, encouraging feedback from visitors, and special program days such as Senior Wednesday and Happy Friday helped create moments of connection and optimism, even in challenging times. These are the moments we remember fondly, as they give us strength and sustain our joy in museum work in 2025 and beyond.
That sense of uncertainty I experienced in New York at the time accompanied our work at the Jewish Museum Vienna throughout 2025 as well – albeit under different circumstances. Despite many highlights and wonderful moments, uncertainty remained a constant presence. Back in November 2024, Israeli hostages had already been held captive in the Gaza Strip for over a year. Until October 13, 2025, Jewish communities around the world lived in fear for the fate of the hostages, fought for their release, and shared in the suffering of their families and friends, whose appeals grew ever more desperate. At the same time, the situation in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip became increasingly hopeless: humanitarian aid could no longer reach the population, and hunger prevailed. The eventual release of the remaining living hostages and the ceasefire agreement brought only brief relief, as the prospect of lasting peace remained – and still remains – uncertain.
What endured were deeply divided societies worldwide, a dramatic rise in antisemitism, and growing fear within Jewish communities in Europe and in Austria. These developments shaped not only 2025, but will likely continue to do so in the years ahead.
Museums are political spaces. They do not merely reflect public discourse; they also accompany, shape, and moderate it. We carefully considered how to address the changes in the world and in Vienna after October 7, 2023, not only by telling these stories, but by encouraging people to reflect, engage in dialogue, and encounter one another on equal footing. Our mission as a museum is not to deepen societal divisions, but to connect people.
Our installation in the museum’s Project Space, No Room for Discussion? An Intervention about the World since October 7, 2023, brought together Jewish and Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian, European and Viennese voices. It was a plea for tolerance, for enduring differing opinions, accepting diverse experiences, and engaging in respectful dialogue. In this focused intervention, this approach proved effective. Visitors were invited to share how they perceived the exhibition or how their world had changed since October 7, 2023. One English-language entry has remained especially vivid in my memory: “I am just a Jewish child, I cannot change anything. So all I can do is cry.”
A space dedicated to the grief and shock from a Jewish perspective had already been part of the exhibition The Third Generation: The Holocaust in Family Memory. This exhibition generated an extraordinary response, with numerous messages from around the world and many new connections with people whose ancestors came from Vienna. Despite all uncertainty, it reaffirmed something essential: the Jewish Museum Vienna is an important place for many – a place that brings people together.
As with the Project Space installation, visitors were also invited to contribute to our anniversary exhibition G*d. Reflections between Heaven and Earth. Made possible by the generosity of numerous sponsors and featuring exceptional Judaica and international works of art, the exhibition approached the phenomenon of God through seven questions. Regardless of one’s personal relationship to the divine, it offered ample space to reflect on the fundamental questions of human existence and to leave one’s thoughts at the interactive station Eclipse of God?
Today, many people – believers and non-believers alike, Jewish as well as non-Jewish – are deeply concerned about the state of the world. These reflections are often accompanied by fear, as shown in our carefully curated eponymous exhibition at Museum Judenplatz.
In 2025, Austria commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of the World War II and liberation from National Socialism. Across Europe, memorial sites commemorate the atrocities of the war and the crimes of the Holocaust. But is our culture of remembrance sufficient? What do we remember, and what have we suppressed? How do we remember, and how do we conduct ourselves in acts of commemoration? These and many other questions are addressed in the thoughtful photographs by Roger Cremers in the exhibition Where Have All The Flowers Gone...
80 years after the war – photographs by Roger Cremers, on view until January 16.
Jubilee years come to an end, but they also mark the beginning of something new. On November 23, we concluded the anniversary year with an open house offering free admission and a full program of guided tours and educational activities. Many visitors joined us that day. I had numerous meaningful conversations and answered many insightful questions. Visitors were particularly curious about our new temporary exhibition Black Jews, White Jews? On Skin Color and Prejudice, which opened up an entirely new (Jewish) world for many. This exceptional exhibition can be visited until April 26 2026.
Looking back, 2025 was marked by many uncertainties, but also by many beautiful moments, both inside and outside the museum. Exhibition openings, stimulating discussions with guests such as Ronen Steinke, Götz Aly, and Eva Illouz, encouraging feedback from visitors, and special program days such as Senior Wednesday and Happy Friday helped create moments of connection and optimism, even in challenging times. These are the moments we remember fondly, as they give us strength and sustain our joy in museum work in 2025 and beyond.