Villa Seligmann goes to school: Musical calendar of Jewish festivals

Since May 2024, Villa Seligmann has been enriching cultural and educational life in Hanover with an innovative educational project. Under the title Musical calendar of Jewish festivals the tradition-steeped villa is offering a unique learning program in cooperation with the Verein zur Förderung Musikalischer Bildung e.V. (Association for the Promotion of Musical Education), which is aimed at both pupils and teachers. With this new offer, the Villa Seligmann is establishing itself as an important extracurricular place of learning and making a valuable contribution to intercultural education. The program follows an interdisciplinary learning model that aims to promote a creative and positive approach to Jewish cultural heritage. Pupils from the Hanover region are given the opportunity to discover the Jewish holidays and their significance in the Jewish calendar in a very special way. The focus is on traditional Jewish musical compositions, songs and interactive presentations that vividly convey the historical and cultural background. As part of the project, pupils from the 9th grade at IGS Stöcken in Hanover, among others, had the rare opportunity to explore the central themes of the highest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur – reconciliation and forgiveness. With moving settings of traditional texts and prayers, music played a central role in the emotional communication of the instructive content. Rounded off with a guided tour of the historic Villa Seligmann and the innovative game “World Pieces®”, this encounter was an unforgettable experience for the 14-year-olds. A big thank you to Deutschlandfunk and reporter Andrea Schwyzer for the eloquent report.

You can listen to the contribution here. A central aim of the project is to strengthen the tolerance, acceptance and identity self-confidence of the participants. The combination of art and knowledge creates profound encounters that go beyond the purely school-based framework. Reflections and discussions offer the pupils a protected space in which to engage intensively with the topics covered. The teaching of conflict resolution strategies and the promotion of respectful interaction play a central role here. With this project, Villa Seligmann demonstrates how music and education can go hand in hand to build bridges between cultures and promote understanding of Jewish heritage.