Theme Week Lithuania – Šiauliai

23 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

Hill of Crosses © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hill of Crosses © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-3.0

Šiauliai is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 99,462. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Šiauliai located in eastern part of the northern plateau, Mūša, Dubysa and Venta River divide. Distance of 210 kilometres (130 miles) to Vilnius, Kaunas – 142 km (88 mi), Klaipėda – 161 km (100 mi), Riga – 128 km (80 mi), Kaliningrad – 250 km (155 mi).   read more…

Anne Frank Educational Centre in Frankfurt

27 January 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  8 minutes

Diary of Anne Frank © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-4.0

Diary of Anne Frank © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Anne Frank Educational Centre (German: Bildungsstätte Anne Frank) was founded in 1997 and is located in the neighbourhood of Dornbusch, Frankfurt am Main in Germany where Anne Frank was born. The Centre is supported by the Anne-Frank-Fonds in Basel. In their work, the Centre uses the biography and the diary of Anne Frank as a unique tool to promote tolerance and educate people about the consequences of Nazism, discrimination and racism.   read more…

Ordensburg Vogelsang in the Eifel National Park

9 November 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Guido Radig/cc-by-3.0

© Guido Radig/cc-by-3.0

Ordensburg Vogelsang is a former Nazi estate placed at the former military training area in Eifel National Park in North Rhine-Westphalia. The landmarked and completely preserved estate was used by the National Socialists between 1936 and 1939 as an educational centre for future leaders. Since 1 January 2006 the area has been open to visitors. It is one of the largest architectural relics of National Socialism. The gross area of the landmarked buildings is 50,000 m².   read more…

Slavkov u Brna or Austerlitz in the Czech Republic

21 June 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Slavkov u Brna © flickr.com - flightlog/cc-by-2.0

Slavkov u Brna © flickr.com – flightlog/cc-by-2.0

Slavkov u Brna (historically known in German as Austerlitz) is a town in Vyškov District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,900 inhabitants. The town gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz which took place several kilometres to the west of the town. Baroque Slavkov Castle has 115 rooms and an impressive garden in the French style. The Palace was designed by Italian architect Domenico Martinelli. In its historic salon, an armistice was signed between Austria and France after the battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. There is a small historic museum (only in Czech) and a multimedia presentation about the battle. On the main square is a late Renaissance town hall and mansion. Parts of the old town wall can also be seen. Church of the Resurrection of the Lord (on the south side of the main square). The classicist building with three pulpits was designed from 1786–1789 by the Viennese architect Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg. Only the synagogue (built in 1858) remains from the Jewish ghetto. There is also a Jewish cemetery a little bit outside the town. “Austerlitz” is a Jewish family name, of which the bearers are nowadays spread worldwide but which indicate and ultimate family origin in the town – Austerlitz (family). The dancer Fred Astaire was born Fred Austerlitz, and thus it could be assumed that his ancestors lived in this town.   read more…

Lodz in Poland

27 May 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Museum of Art © panoramio.com - Mietek Ł/cc-by-sa-3.0

Museum of Art © panoramio.com – Mietek Ł/cc-by-sa-3.0

Łódź, written in English as Lodz, is the third-largest city in Poland and a former industrial centre. Located in the central part of the country, it has a population of 679,941 (2019). It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) south-west of Warsaw. The city’s coat of arms is an example of canting, as it depicts a boat (łódź in Polish), which alludes to the city’s name.   read more…

Synagogue of Halle (Saale)

27 January 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Halle Synagogue © Allexkoch/cc-by-sa-4.0

Halle Synagogue © Allexkoch/cc-by-sa-4.0

The synagogue of Halle (Saale) is the house of worship of the Jewish community in Halle (Saale), which had 555 members in 2018. The building was originally built in 1894 as the Tahara House of the Jewish cemetery, laid out in 1864 northeast of downtown Halle, from white and yellow bricks according to plans by the architects Gustav Wolff and Theodor Lehmann. The conversion to a synagogue took place from 1948 after some renovations (consecrated in 1953) as a replacement for the old synagogue in the city center, which was destroyed during the November pogroms in 1938.   read more…

Konstanz New Synagogue

9 November 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

New Synagogue © Waithamai/cc-by-sa-4.0

New Synagogue © Waithamai/cc-by-sa-4.0

The synagogue in Konstanz, the district town of the district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, was built in 1882/1883 and destroyed during the November pogroms in 1938. This first synagogue was on Sigismundstrasse. A new building was inaugurated in 2019. The Jewish community of Konstanz tried to build a synagogue from 1872. The property at Sigismundstrasse 19 was purchased from the Konstanz Hospital Foundation and, thanks to numerous donations and a loan, the financing was secured. The synagogue was built according to the plans of the architect and city builder Holzmann from Constance. The inauguration, attended by numerous representatives of the state and municipal authorities and the Christian churches, took place on September 28, 1883.   read more…

Jewish Museum Frankfurt and Museum Judengasse

20 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  4 minutes

Frankfurter Judengasse in 1868

Frankfurter Judengasse in 1868

The Jewish Museum Frankfurt am Main is the oldest independent Jewish Museum in Germany. It was opened by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl on 9 November 1988, the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht.   read more…

Topography of Terror in Berlin

27 January 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  12 minutes

© Manfred Brückels/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Manfred Brückels/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Topography of Terror (German: Topographie des Terrors) is an outdoor and indoor history museum in Berlin, Germany. It is located on Niederkirchnerstrasse, formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse, on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 was the SS Reich Main Security Office, the headquarters of the Sicherheitspolizei, SD, Einsatzgruppen and Gestapo.   read more…

Return to TopReturn to Top