Irene Aue-Ben-David will take over as director of the Jewish Museum Hohenems in April 2026. She succeeds Hanno Loewy, who is retiring after more than twenty years at the helm of the internationally renowned museum. Irene Aue-Ben-David (52) is a historian and has been director of the Leo Baeck International Research Institute for German-Jewish History in Jerusalem for 10 years.
With the appointment of Irene Aue-Ben-David, the board of the Jewish Museum’s sponsoring association is following the unanimous recommendation of the selection committee, which is made up of international experts and representatives of the sponsoring organizations. The museum’s sponsoring association advertised the position internationally in May and conducted a two-stage application process with hearings of the candidates before a selection committee. The Jewish Museum Hohenems is sponsored by the city of Hohenems, the state of Vorarlberg, and the Friends of the Jewish Museum Hohenems.
Irene Aue-Ben-David earned her doctorate in modern history at the University of Göttingen. Until 2017, she worked primarily in Israel as a research assistant, project manager, and curator. She has headed the Leo Baeck Institute in Jerusalem since 2015. Named after the rabbi, Holocaust survivor, and important representative of liberal German Judaism, the research and documentation center has locations in Jerusalem, London, New York, and Berlin. The institute conducts research in the field of German-Jewish history and culture and, through its wide range of events and projects, communicates the liberal values and experiences of German-speaking Jewry to a broad public – always with an eye to the relevance of the topics for the present day.
Irene Aue-Ben-David impressed the finding committee with her professional excellence, leadership qualities, analytical and communication skills, commitment, and enthusiasm. The committee therefore recommended to the sponsoring association that she be entrusted with the management of the museum as the most qualified candidate. Contract negotiations were recently successfully concluded. On December 15, Irene Aue-Ben-David will come to Vorarlberg for an initial meeting with the museum team and a press conference.
Dr. Irene Aue-Ben-David, born in Hildesheim in 1972
2010: Doctorate in Modern History at Georg August University of Göttingen. Dissertation topic: Selma Stern as a historian. The history of the works “The Prussian State and the Jews” and “Jud Süß.”
2002–2017: Various positions as research assistant, project manager, curator, research assistant, and editorial director, primarily in Israel.
Since 2015: Director of the Leo Baeck Institute, Jerusalem.
Finding commission: The commission set up by the association’s board was international. It included four experts from the fields of Jewish studies, cultural studies, and museology (Denise Tonella, director of the Swiss National Museum, Emile Schrijver, general director of the Jewish Cultural Quarter Amsterdam, Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek, former chief curator of the Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna, Michael Kasper, Director of the Vorarlberg Museum), one representative each from the sponsoring organizations (Claudia Voit, Dieter Egger, Brigitte Plemel), and one member of the team (Anita Niegelhell). The committee was chaired by the chairman of the sponsoring association (Romuald Kopf), who did not have voting rights.
Photo: Ole Witt