Series of events around the exhibition “Jewish Architects of Wrocław”

events Programme

The series, held in May-June 2026, included public events, debates, academic workshops, guided city walks, and tours of the "Jewish Architects of Wrocław" exhibition.

The exhibition, available in Polish and English languages, was prepared by the Bente Kahan Foundation and hosted for two months at the Taube Department of Jewish Studies, University of Wrocław. It presented selected biographies, buildings and professional networks of seven Jewish architects active in pre-war Breslau, Germany (today Wrocław, Poland). These were Edwin Oppler, Richard Wolffenstein, Leo Schlesinger, Paul & Richard Ehrlich, Erich Mendelsohn, and Moritz Hadda.

The exhibit focused on the role of Jewish architects in shaping the urban landscape of Breslau/Wrocław from the nineteenth century to the interwar period. The exhibit highlighted their involvement in the design of synagogues, communal buildings, residential architecture, commercial spaces, healthcare infrastructure and public institutions. The exhibition also raised questions about visibility, memory and erasure: many of the buildings and biographies featured in the exhibit were either forgotten, transformed or insufficiently represented in dominant narratives of the city’s history. The exhibit authors were Dr hab. Eng. Arch. Agnieszka Tomaszewicz and Dr Eng. Arch. Joanna Majczyk of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

UMF together with the Bente Kahan Foundation and the Taube Department of Jewish Studies, University of Wrocław organized 3 public events, 3 guided exhibit tours and 8 city walks. Partnership also included cooperation on selected events with the Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław Institute of Culture, Museum of Architecture of Wrocław and Jewish Culture Festival - Simcha. The exhibit was a point of departure and inspiration for developing a robust programming that reached diverse local and international audiences.

Together, the walks transformed the city into an extended exhibition space. They enabled different audiences — including university employees, local residents, heritage professionals, activists, educators, scholars, students and international visitors — to engage directly with places connected to Jewish architectural heritage and social activism.

Photos: Wojciech Chrubasik