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Leipzig: Wednesday 28 May 2025

The reading rooms of the German National Library in Leipzig will open at 13:00 on Wednesday 28 May due to a staff assembly. The exhibitions of the German Museum of Books and Writing will open from 10:00 to 18:00.

Frankfurt: Thursday 5 June 2025

The reading rooms of the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main will open at 13:00 on Thursday, 5 June due to a staff assembly. The exhibitions of the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 will be open from 9:00 to 21:30.

Discover and Learn

Collage from a workshop on the exhibition “...the wind sets down its bag in another land” – Herta Müller.

Our educational and teaching services focus on the fate of those who lost their homes and were forced into exile during the Nazi era. We use letters, photographs, passports, suitcases, manuscripts and many other objects to shed light on this historical subject. You can access these in our permanent exhibition and also in our regular temporary exhibitions, which address somewhat wider topics.

We invite school classes, students and other interested groups of all ages to explore the exhibitions virtually or in person.

Interactive interviews with eyewitnesses

Two interactive interviews are being created as part of the project “Learning from the Past for the Present”. The German Exile Archive 1933–1945 is cooperating closely with two eyewitnesses to preserve their experiences of anti-Semitic persecution and exile after 1933 for posterity.

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Child emigration from Frankfurt – retracting the lives of rescued children online

Using personal items, video interviews with contemporary witnesses and comics, “Child emigration from Frankfurt – retracting the lives of rescued children.” invites visitors to engage with the topic of child emigration and explore the life stories of rescued children in exile. The guides are aimed at upper secondary school pupils (Sekundarstufe I and II) and lead students on a “round tour” of the virtual exhibition, in which they will encounter the life stories of six children who were rescued from Frankfurt am Main.
(These services are only available in German)

Spurensuche online

“Spurensuche online” invites pupils from the 10th grade and upwards to explore the virtual exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony” on their own initiative by investigating various life stories. The guides available for “tours” of the virtual exhibition include questions, research tips and investigative tasks and provide ideas for integrating the subject of “exile” into digitally oriented teaching following the principle of the “flipped classroom”.
(The “Spurensuche online” services are only available in German.)

Spurensuche vor Ort in Frankfurt am Main

In “Spurensuche vor Ort”, a rally for small groups, we invite pupils from the 10th grade and upwards to explore the permanent exhibition on their own initiative using various life stories.

Spurensuche vor Ort

On-site learning in Leipzig

At the Anne Frank Shoah Library in Leipzig, we offer a wide range of educational programmes on the topics of the Holocaust and Shoah, anti-Semitism and racism for students in grades 8 and up.

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Discover Erika Mann online: Cabaret Artist – War Correspondent – Political Speaker

Actor, writer and journalist Erika Mann was a brave fighter for democracy and humanity all her life. What can we learn from her today?

Visitors to the virtual exhibition “Erika Mann. Cabaret Artist – War Correspondent – Political Speaker” on the “Arts in Exile” portal can view photos, documents, texts and interviews that provide insight into the various roles played by Erika Mann. Two guides for “tours” of the virtual exhibition (lower secondary/10th grade and upper secondary levels) show the way and provide plenty of ideas for exploring, presenting and writing. The necessary additional material can be ordered from us free of charge beforehand.

(These services are only available in German)

Verbrannte Orte (“Burned locations”)

On 10 May 1933, Berlin’s Bebelplatz (then known as Opernplatz) became the scene of one of the Nazis’ public burnings of books written by “degenerate” authors. This book burning ceremony was the culmination of the so-called “Action Against the Un-German Spirit” organised by the German Student Union’s Main Office for Press and Propaganda. However, it is less commonly known that this book burning, staged for maximum public effect, was just one of more than 90.

The online educational programme “Verbrannte Orte” (“Burned Locations”) consists of three modules which can be used to engage with the topic of “book burnings in 1933”. Besides exploring the history of these events, the programme focuses on the question, “What do these places look like today?”

(This service is only available in German)

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