Princeton Professor Peter Schafer Named Head of Jewish Museum Berlin
Peter Schafer Image by princeton u.
Berlin’s Jewish museum has selected as its new leader a non-Jewish scholar of Jewish studies.
Peter Schafer Image by princeton u.
Peter Schafer, a German academic who had previously led Princeton University‘s Judaic studies program, will take the reins of the Jewish Museum Berlin as of September 1, according to an announcement made Friday.
He will succeed W. Michael Blumenthal, a German-born Jewish former U.S. treasury secretary under President Carter.
Blumenthal was appointed in 1997 to be the director of the Jewish Museum Berlin. The museum opened to the public on Sept. 12, 2001 in a dramatic building designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. It reports having about 700,000 visitors annually.
Blumenthal, who turned 88 this year, said he had been considering passing the torch and that the right moment came when Schafer retired as an academic. Schafer had previously taught at German universities.
Germany’s culture minister, Monika Grutters, said Friday that she was “delighted that we have managed to gain… an internationally active and renowned expert in Jewish studies as the new director.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
