Jewish (Jüdisches) Museum

The enormous Jüdisches Museum is as much a museum as a memorial. The design of the building - considered by many to be the most striking in all of Berlin - is sometimes seen as an exploded Star of David. The interior is disorienting and designed to give visitors a sense of unease, mimicking the feelings of those displaced by the Holocaust. A hollow space represents what has been lost. The exhibits portray the history of Judaism and the Jews in Germany through artefacts, art and documents. The walls narrow and the surroundings become increasingly dark as visitors approach the section on the Third Reich and the Holocaust. The museum draws an impressive 3.5 million visitors yearly, making it one of the most visited museums in Germany.