Exhibition “The Jewish Merchant Families in Stralsund”

The non-profit association Förderverein Historische Warenhäuser Wertheim und Tietz in Stralsund e. V. will open an exhibition in the Kulturkirche St. Jakobi on November 8, 2018 as part of the events marking 80 years of the Reichspogromnacht. On display will be places of Jewish history as well as biographies of formative merchant families such as Wertheim, Tietz, Blach and Cohn.

Ossenreyerstrasse in Stralsund with a store of the Tietz family, around 1903

On Ossenreyerstrasse, just a few meters from the exhibition site, two of Germany’s few remaining department stores still stand today: Alt-Wertheim, built in 1903, with its magnificent restored facade and imposing atrium, and a building belonging to the Tietz family, opened in 1928 in the style of the New Objectivity. Stralsund is thus considered the cradle of German department store culture. The exhibition also shows how and where the destruction of Jewish life in Stralsund and the fate of Jewish merchant families is remembered today.

The exhibition was made possible by a grant from the Foundation for Volunteerism and Civic Engagement in Güstrow and by donations from the two IT companies adesso AG and affinis GmbH, which operate branches in Stralsund.

Duration of the exhibition was November 8 – December 13, 2018.

The Kulturkirche St. Jakobi is currently open Mon-Fri from 11:00 – 15:00.

++ The German-language exhibition consists of high-quality roll-ups and is available for loan to museums, documentation centers and educational institutions upon request +++