Curated by Anoushka Alexander-Rose

Reframing the Wandering Jew from its origins in medieval Christian myth, this exhibition presents how the legend has evolved across time and cultures. It draws on an expansive set of sources including Romantic and Gothic literature, Yiddish drama, Jewish visual art, rabbinic sermons, Nazi and anti-Nazi film, and 21st-century regenderings of the myth. Particularly popular in the German imagination, the Wandering Jew evolved from a Jewish ‘Other’ within Christian culture, came to be acknowledged as harmful propaganda, and finally became a symbol of German-Jewish cultural co-production. 

The exhibition was made possible by generous financial support from the German History Society and the Jewish Historical Society of England. The curator would also like to thank Lisa Lampert-Weissig for the research in her latest monograph, Instrument of Memory: Encounters with the Wandering Jew (University of Michigan Press, 2024), and the wider Parkes Institute academic community for their insights and contributions (in particular Charlie Knight for editorial assistance and visuals, and also Noëmie Duhaut, Neil Gregor, Tony Kushner, Claire Le Foll, and Katie Power).

Special event: Discussion and Viewing with Anoushka Alexander-Rose and Elisabeth Becker-Topkara: 23 January 2025 (5.30pm)