Museum "The Einsteins"
Einstein's birthplace
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, at Bahnhofstrasse 20. "The house is quite lovely for being born; for on that occasion, one doesn't yet have such great aesthetic needs, but rather one first shouts at one's loved ones without paying much attention to reasons and circumstances," he later remarked about the house, which was destroyed in 1944. A Lego model gives an impression of what it looked like.
Interviews
Only through the descendants of Albert Einstein's close relatives who fled could the museum become what it is: a place where personal stories offer emotional access to history. Some of them share their stories in the interview. They talk about the Ulm their parents and grandparents knew, about their Swabian and Jewish roots, but also about the importance of keeping history alive.
A window into the past
The exhibition tour integrates various digital media. A particularly special media station is the "Window to the Past." The historical photographs shown here depict the Ulm where the Einsteins and their relatives lived. As a special highlight, a tram ride through Ulm from 1922 can be accessed at this media station.
Birth register
It's a simple form: the birth register of the city of Ulm. Yet it's unique, for it documents the birth of the future Nobel laureate Albert Einstein. Einstein lived in many places around the world during his life, but he was born in Ulm, Württemberg. Even though his parents moved to Munich with their young son in the early summer of 1880, the connection to Ulm remained through relatives who continued to live there.
Rapprochement
As early as the late 1950s, Heinz Keil, commissioned by the city of Ulm, compiled a "documentation on the persecution of the Jewish citizens of Ulm." He established contact with former Jewish residents of Ulm who were scattered across the globe: an important milestone upon which the city could build in its efforts to reconcile with its Jewish heritage. Since the 1980s, Ulm has invited former Jewish residents back to the city, most recently for the opening of the new synagogue in 2012.
Shoah
The synagogue was consecrated in 1873, during the decade of the Ulm Jewish community's heyday in the 19th century and just a few years before Einstein's birth. It was desecrated during Kristallnacht in November 1938 and demolished a few days later. The synagogue symbolizes the rise and fall of the assimilated and marginalized Jewish community of the 19th and 20th centuries. During the Nazi era, the synagogue and the Jewish people disappeared from Ulm, including Albert Einstein's relatives.
Collection Wall
A collection wall displays images and newspaper clippings from the exhibition and more. Here, further details about the history of the Jewish community in Ulm and the Einstein family can be discovered.
Foyer with shop
The museum has a small but excellent shop. Here you can buy tickets and vouchers, books and souvenirs related to Einstein, Jewish culture and the museum.
Old Synagogue
The synagogue on Weinhof, opened in 1873, was magnificent. The entire city was proud of this house of worship. It was often photographed, but apparently not the interior. Ann Dorzback knew the synagogue well and cherished the image of its interior in her heart. Born in Ulm in 1921 and having fled in 1939, she commissioned an interior view of the synagogue in 2023 at the age of 102. She dedicated the painting to the memory of her family and donated it to the museum shortly before its opening—a sign of the deep connection she felt to her birthplace.
A small selection of films
Films can be watched on a large screen, including the award-winning documentary "Kinderland ist abgebrannt" (Children's Land Has Burned Down), a documentary about the life of Ann Dorzback and about the Jewish community in Buchau, where Albert Einstein's father was born. This monitor can also be used as a whiteboard for educational purposes.
Family tree
Albert Einstein was born into a large Jewish family. His father came from Buchau am Federsee, his mother from Cannstatt. A family tree in the museum illustrates the extensive network of relatives and focuses primarily on those who are the subject of the museum. It also introduces the relatives whose life stories accompany museum visitors in digitally available graphic novels.
The "Englishman"
The house at Weinhof 19 dates back to the 15th century and has a varied history. It still bears the name "Zum König von Engländer" (To the King of Englishmen), a name derived from the former inn. The "Israel & Levi" feather factory, in which Albert Einstein's grandparents and father invested, was located here in the 19th century. Thus, this house is closely linked to the fact that the physicist was born in Ulm.
