Linocut Workshop: The Squirrel and the Pelican

The permanent exhibition “Masel und Broche” at the Museum Judengasse offers fascinating insights into daily life in Europe’s first Jewish ghetto. Amid the reconstructed foundations of five historic houses, visitors encounter traces of a vibrant Jewish community.

Ritual objects, images, archaeological finds, and historical writings tell the stories of the people who lived, worked, and practiced their faith here. The exhibition impressively combines history, archaeology, and personal life experiences, bringing the past of Frankfurt’s Judengasse to life in a unique way.

The printmaking workshop “Of Pelicans & Squirrels - The House Symbols of Frankfurt’s Judengasse” creatively explores the animal emblems of the Jewish ghetto.

Before house numbers were introduced, houses in large cities had images as identifying marks, and this was also the case in Frankfurt’s Judengasse. From today’s perspective, their names often sound like something out of a fairy tale and spark the imagination. In the workshop, we’ll explore the history of individual houses and their residents. Drawing on these ideas, we’ll create colorful images and print them ourselves on postcards. For this, we’ll use letterpress printing - a technique that was already widespread during the time of Judengasse. As a linocut technique, it offers us a wide range of creative possibilities today and is suitable for young and old, beginners and advanced artists alike.