Museum of Jewish Culture Bratislava
Multiethnic past
As some of you might know, Bratislava was always a multicultural city, which makes sense, given its location on the borders with Austria and Hungary, with mainly Austrians, Hungarians, Slovaks and of course, Jews. And in the center, on Židovská Street (which literally means Jewish Street), there’s this Zsigray Mansion, which houses a Museum of Jewish Culture, since 1993.
The Museum of Jewish Culture is a part of the Slovak National Museum. It displays a permanent exhibition of various aspects of Jewish history and culture in Slovakia. From everyday life objects to Jewish visual art, the Museum of Jewish Culture guides you through all of that and much more. It’s very interesting to have a peek into a culture so different from ours despite once being an integral part of regional identity throughout history. As I said, there used to be a strong Jewish community in Bratislava and although it’s shameful, I have to admit I have rather scarce knowledge of their culture, despite the fact that I’m Bratislava native. However, the Museum of Jewish Culture, housed in the beautiful Zsigray Mansion, offers a perfect opportunity to change that.
Unfortunately, memories of Jewish history lead us to the atrocious times of WWII, when one of the most wicked ideologies took power over Europe. Thus, the exhibition ends as a dedication to the memory of 70,000 holocaust victims from Slovakia. Given those despicable events, the Museum of Jewish Culture also leaves you with bitter experiences, though I believe it’s really worth visiting.
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