Anne Frank House in Amsterdam

27 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  11 minutes

Anne Frank in May 1942, two months before she and her family went into hiding © Photo collection Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

Anne Frank in May 1942, two months before she and her family went into hiding
© Photo collection Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

The Anne Frank House (Dutch: Anne Frank Huis) is a writer’s house and biographical museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. The building is located on a canal called the Prinsengracht, close to the Westerkerk, in central Amsterdam in the Netherlands.   read more…

Theme Week Armenia – Ararat City

26 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Ararat City entrance from the M2 highway © Armineaghayan/cc-by-sa-4.0

Ararat City entrance from the M2 highway © Armineaghayan/cc-by-sa-4.0

Ararat is a town in the Ararat Municipality of the Ararat Province of Armenia, located on the YerevanNakhchivan highway, 42 km (26 mi) southeast of the capital Yerevan and 19 km (12 mi) south of the provincial centre Artashat. In the 2011 census, the population of the town was 20,235. As per the 2016 official estimate, the population is around 20,300.   read more…

New Synagogue in Dessau

17 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© M H.DE/cc-by-sa-4.0

© M H.DE/cc-by-sa-4.0

The New Synagogue, also known as the Weill Synagogue, is a Jewish place of worship in the city center of Dessau. It is the first newly built synagogue in the state of Saxony-Anhalt since German reunification.   read more…

House of One in Berlin

24 December 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  8 minutes

House of One model © Thaler Tamas/cc-by-sa-4.0

House of One model © Thaler Tamas/cc-by-sa-4.0

The House of One is a religious structure being built in Berlin. It will be the world’s first house of prayer for three religions, containing a church, a mosque, and a synagogue. The construction costs, which are estimated at 43.5 million euros, come roughly equally from the federal government, the city of Berlin as well as donations and a crowdfunding campaign.   read more…

Bardejov in Slovakia

7 December 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  10 minutes

Church of St. Aegidius © panoramio.com - Mister No/cc-by-3.0

Church of St. Aegidius © panoramio.com – Mister No/cc-by-3.0

Bardejov (Hungarian: Bártfa, German: Bartfeld, Rusyn: Бардеёв, Ukrainian: Бардіїв, Polish: Bardejów) is a town in North-Eastern Slovakia. It is situated in the Šariš region on a floodplain terrace of the Topľa River, in the hills of the Beskyd Mountains. It exhibits numerous cultural monuments in its completely intact medieval town center. The town is one of UNESCO‘s World Heritage Sites and currently maintains a population of about 32,000 inhabitants. In 2017, Bardejov was awarded the honorary title of “Reformation City of Europe” by the Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe.   read more…

Cetate Synagogue in Timișoara

20 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© flickr.com - Fred Romero/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Fred Romero/cc-by-2.0

Cetate Synagogue (Romanian: Sinagoga din Cetate or Sinagoga Cultului Mozaic Neolog) is a Jewish place of worship in Timișoara, Western Romania, located on Mărășești Street in the Cetate district. It was built between 1863 and 1865 in an eclectic style with Moorish elements. It is inscribed in the list of historical monuments in Timiș County. The synagogue reopened for the public in 2022.   read more…

Fraenkelufer Synagogue in Berlin

9 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  11 minutes

© Jörg Zägel/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Jörg Zägel/cc-by-sa-3.0

The synagogue on Fraenkelufer (German: Fraenkelufer Synagoge) in Berlin‘s Kreuzberg district was built as an Orthodox Synagogue between 1913 and 1916 according to plans and under the direction of the master builder of the Jewish Community of Berlin, Alexander Beer. The structure was located on Kottbusser Ufer 48–50, today’s Fraenkelufer 10-16. On Kristallnacht, the evening of November 9-10th, 1938, the main building of the synagogue was badly damaged. Further destruction in the following years led to the structures ultimate demolition in 1958/1959 after the end of World War II. Today the surviving outbuilding, previously used for the youth service, has been renovated and is home to a Conservative Synagogue. A complete reconstruction of the main synagogue that was destroyed by the Nazis is being planned for its original location.   read more…

Hôtel Beauharnais in Paris

9 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  8 minutes

Inauguration of the German embassy residence, 1968 © Bundesarchiv - B 145 Bild - F026336-0020/Gathmann, Jens/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

Inauguration of the German embassy residence, 1968
© Bundesarchiv – B 145 Bild – F026336-0020/Gathmann, Jens/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

The Hôtel Beauharnais is a historic hôtel particulier, a type of large French townhouse, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It was designed by architect Germain Boffrand. Its construction was completed in 1714. By 1803, the structure was purchased by Eugène de Beauharnais, who had it rebuilt in an Empire style. It has been listed as an official historical monument since July 25, 1951. Today it serves as the official residence of the German Ambassador to France.   read more…

National Library of Israel in West Jerusalem

28 October 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  15 minutes

National Library of Israel still under construction © איתי כהן / אלבטרוס צילום אוויר/cc-by-3.0

National Library of Israel still under construction © איתי כהן / אלבטרוס צילום אוויר/cc-by-3.0

The National Library of Israel (NLI; Hebrew: HaSifria HaLeumit), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; Hebrew: Beit Ha-Sfarim Ha-Le’umi ve-Ha-Universita’i), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Jewish heritage. The library holds more than 5 million books, and is located in the Government complex (Kiryat HaMemshala) near the Knesset. The National Library owns the world’s largest collections of Hebraica and Judaica, and is the repository of many rare and unique manuscripts, books and artifacts.   read more…

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