From Database to exhibition into the Berlin History App

In 2008 the as yet unfinished database served as a starting point for an exhibition presented in the foyer of the Humboldt University. Made in cooperation with the Aktive Museum Faschismus und Widerstand, Berlin, “Final Sale. The End of Jewish owned businesses in Nazi Berlin” presented the fate 16 all but forgotten enterprises. As the participants of the working group – members of the research team as well as volunteers of the Aktive Museum – all could choose “their” business freely, the scope of businesses was wide; an art school was presented next to garlic product specialist and a Turkish carpet trader. By way of example not only the stages and processes by which Jewish business people had their rights withdrawn and livelihoods destroyed but also the counter-strategies they developed in response were shown.

The exhibition was a real success. After the presentation in the Humboldt University, it a was shown in the State Archive (2010) and Chamber of Commerce of Berlin (2013). When presenting the exhibition, both the district museum of Steglitz and of Pankow added more local businesses.

In 2010 the exhibition was translated and subsequently shown in the Leo Baeck Institut in New York (2010); the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (2012) and in Boston University (2014)

In due time all these businesses were added to the Active Museum’s layer in the Berlin History App. Thus, today, any flaneur or tourist, who has this app installed on his mobile, can stumble across the fate of the Jewish owned businesses and find out more about their fate.

Christoph Kreutzmüller & Marion Neumann

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