Cohn-Scheune

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The Cohn family of merchants had lived in Rotenburg since the 18th century and ran a textile business. From 1922 Hermann and Gertrud Cohn ran a widely known clothing store on Große Straße. Under the pressure of Nazi persecution, Hermann Cohn had to file for bankruptcy in 1934; the couple were conscripted for forced labor, moved to Berlin in 1939, and were deported to Auschwitz in 1943. Their daughters survived in exile in Colombia and England.

The property included a half-timbered barn built around 1834, which had eventually fallen into disrepair. In 2005 a citizens' initiative had it dismantled and rebuilt on Am Kirchhof, opposite the town church. Supported by the Förderverein Cohn-Scheune (friends' association) and funded by many donations, it opened on September 19, 2010, as a Jewish museum and cultural workshop in the presence of descendants of the family.

The exhibition, designed by the historian Manfred Wichmann, presents on the first floor the history of the Cohn family and of the Jewish communities in and around Rotenburg up to the Nazi era, including an interactive map. The upper floor introduces Jewish religion and holidays and displays a Torah scroll as well as a reconstruction of the furnishings of the synagogue in Zeven, destroyed in 1938. Tablets with video interviews were added in 2015, and in 2020 Inge Hansen-Schaberg expanded the exhibition to include topics such as emigration. Changing exhibitions, readings, and concerts round out the program.

Highlights

• The fate of the Cohn merchant family of Rotenburg
• Interactive map of Jewish families in the region
• Historic Torah scroll and reconstructed furnishings of the Zeven synagogue
• Half-timbered barn from 1834, relocated in 2005 and opened as a museum in 2010
• Changing exhibitions, readings, and concerts

Permanent exhibitions

• Jüdisches Leben in Rotenburg und der Region – First floor with the history of the Cohn family and the Jewish communities of the surrounding area up to Nazi persecution, complemented by media stations and an interactive map.
• Jüdische Religion und Kultur – Upper floor with ritual objects, a historic Torah scroll, and the replicated furnishings of the Zeven synagogue.

Founded

2010

Operated by

Förderverein Cohn-Scheune e. V.

Admission & discounts

Teachers free. It is not specified who qualifies for reduced admission. Some events are free, with donations welcome.

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