Start of the extensive series of events in the Bamberg region as part of the festival year “1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany”
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The first evidence of Jewish life in the area of today’s Germany goes back to the year 321. The Bamberg region can also look back on a diverse and long-lasting Jewish history, which has remained visible in architectural traces such as former synagogues and Jewish cemeteries. To this day, a small, heterogeneous Jewish community has re-established itself in the region. Jews live here and help shape the Bamberg region. These are the starting points of our contribution to the festival year 2021, which we are designing under the motto “Be Jewish – yesterday and today”. Because for Jews – as for all people – in our society the question arises: Who am I, what defines me, how is my identity formed?
The series of events aims to stimulate reflection, encourage people to learn from one another, and initiate discussions between non-Jewish and Jewish people on an equal footing. “Encounters in word and sound” form the heart of the program – in the individually designed events in former regional synagogues throughout Franconia, an encounter in word and sound takes place literally. Music by the Jewish composer Salomone Rossi (1570-ca. 1630) is combined with texts on the subject of “Being Jewish – yesterday and today”.
Throughout the entire series of events, readings, lectures, guided tours, exhibitions and courses range from history to the present to the future, from art to cuisine, from tradition to modernity, away from the cliché and towards the everyday reality Lives of Jews.
An overview of the events of the theme year “Being Jewish – Yesterday and Today”, which was compiled with many cooperation partners, is on the page www.vhs-bamberg-land.de to find. The information on whether and how the events can take place is updated there on an ongoing basis. The anniversary year in the Bamberg region starts on April 25, 2021 at 3 p.m. as an online event with a presentation of the entire program and many musical and cultural contributions. The program was co-curated by the Liberal Jewish Community of Bamberg, the Professorship for Jewish Studies at the University of Bamberg and the VHS Bamberg-Land. Register at www.vhs-bamberg-land.de is required.
Further information for media representatives:
Contact for questions:
Rebekka Denz
Research assistant at the professorship for Jewish Studies
Tel.: 0951/863-2189
rebekka.denz (at) uni-bamberg.de
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