Mascha Kaléko, Berlin / Berlin's Mascha Kaléko

Three sections of the exhibition trace the complex relationship between the poet and Berlin.

They explore themes that have shaped Kaléko’s life story and the reception of her work since her death:

homeland and homelessness, role models and self-presentation, Jewish identity, and language and translation.

These overarching themes form the curatorial framework of the exhibition. They determine the selection of poems and objects and offer different perspectives on Kaléko’s life and literary legacy.

‘Mascha Finds Herself in Berlin’

In the first section of the exhibition, ‘Mascha Finds Herself in Berlin’, visitors get to know the young poet in 1920s and 1930s Berlin, set against the backdrop of the Eastern European Jewish Scheunenviertel neighbourhood and the artistic circles around Savignyplatz in Charlottenburg, before she emigrated to the USA in 1938. The second section of the exhibition, ‘Mascha Loses Berlin and Finds Her Way Back’, focuses on her return visits to the city from 1956 onwards.

It sheds light on Kaléko’s ambivalent relationship with Berlin and explores what motivated her to return to the city time and again from her homes in New York and Jerusalem. Central to this is also the question of how she reconnected with Berlin and its residents after her emigration.

The third chapter, ‘Berlin Finds Mascha Again and Again’, turns its attention to the poet’s legacy.

New interpretations of her works, as well as artistic and academic explorations of her literary legacy, build a bridge to present-day Berlin and demonstrate just how much of a presence Mascha Kaléko continues to have in the city.

‘Berlin Always Finds Mascha Again’

The three sections of the exhibition explore key themes that shaped Mascha Kaléko’s biography,

her eventful relationship with Berlin and the reception of her work after her death: home and homelessness, role models and self-presentation, Jewish identity, and language and translation. These key questions form the curatorial framework of the exhibition. They determine the selection of poems and objects and open up different perspectives on Kaléko’s life and literary legacy.

• An exhibition by the Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum Foundation