The Jubilee of the Israel Museum, 1965-2015

[Draggingtree]

Israel's Documented Story

 

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

 

The Jubilee of the Israel Museum, 1965-2015

This week, the Israel State Archives and the Israel Museum released a joint publication (in Hebrew) on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the museum, which was opened on May 11, 1965. The museum is Israel's national museum and holds one of the largest collections of art and archaeology in the world.

 

The publication includes 39 documents (three in English--4, 18, 26; one in French--18; the rest in Hebrew), and tells the story of the building of the museum with assistance from the U.S. government. (This was why it was called "the Israel Museum" rather than "the Jerusalemmuseum"; the U.S. opposed Israel's extension of its rule to Jerusalem.) The publication also describes the decision to build in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood in Jerusalem, the process of building, and the inauguration of the museum.

 

In the first year after opening, the museum saw more than 570,000 visitors, out of a population of 2.5 million, in 1965.

 

The publication includes photographs, architectural plans, a model of the building built by architects Alfred Mansfeld and Dora Gad, and movie clips.

 

Here are some photographs from the opening of the museum, courtesy of the government press

http://israelsdocuments.blogspot.com/