Heritage Partners

The European Association for the Promotion of Jewish Heritage and Culture represents a number of organisations working in the field of Jewish heritage in Europe. It serves as a platform to develop cultural initiatives and educational programs for European Jewish sites and its network fosters intercultural dialogue, promotes a deeper understanding of European history, raises awareness of cultural diversity, and strengthens the cultural identity of European citizens.

The AEPJ coordinates two major projects at the European level: the European Days of Jewish Culture, a pan-European festival, held annually at the beginning of September, and the European Route of Jewish Heritage, certified by the Cultural Routes programme of the Council of Europe. The Jewish Country Houses project is integrated into the European Jewish Heritage Route. This partnership, established 8 years ago, is an integral part of the European network. Over the years, we have collaborated, shared best practices, and participated in joint programs

The Centre des Monuments Nationaux is a heritage body run by the French Ministry for Culture and Communication responsible for managing and conserving over 85 historic sites across France. It works to interpret these sites effectively and make them accessible to the public.

The Centre des Monuments Nationaux has two sites that have been strongly marked by Jewish families: the Villa Kerylos, jewel of the Riviera, embodiment of the passion for antiquity of the tireless scholar Theodore Reinach and, the Chateau de Champs sur Marne, model for all the country houses of the eighteenth century, patiently restored to its splendour by the love of the Enlightenment and the liberality of the Cahen d’Anvers at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  For both, the Centre des monuments nationaux ensures the maintenance, the opening to the public and the cultural animation in the memory of their former owners and occupants. The CMN has supported and hosted two of our project conferences, at Villa Kerylos in 2019 and on Jewish Collecting in 2022.

The Château de Seneffe, located in Belgium was acquired in 1909 by Franz Philippson (1851-1929) as a second residence. Philippson was a banker and entrepreneur, interested in politics, social issues, art and education; his wife Mathilde (née Mayer) painted herself, and was a keen patron of the visual arts. Philippson, meanwhile, was deeply engaged in international Jewish philanthropy. A temporary exhibition called “Seneffe at the time of the Philippsons” ran at the Chateau from 2022-2024. The Domaine du Château de Seneffe also hosted a Jewish Country Houses conference on "Jewish Business Dynasties 1850-1950: Family, Power, Vulnerability” in September 2022.

Built in the late nineteenth century by Florentine architect Boccini, Villa Montesca stands as a testament to the cultural and social vision of its Jewish owners, Barons Leopoldo (1847-1917) and Giulio Franchetti (1840-1909), of Livornese and Tunisian descent. The villa gained particular significance under Leopoldo and his wife Alice Hallgarten (1874-1911), from a German-Jewish family in New York, who transformed it into a centre for progressive social reform. While the Baron focused on agricultural improvements and economic reforms to enhance peasants' lives, Alice pioneered rural education, supporting Maria Montessori's experimental methods. Today, the Hallgarten-Franchetti Foundation at Villa Montesca continues their legacy of innovative education and social engagement, promoting cultural heritage and European educational initiatives, and will be hosting the JCH conference on 'Jews. Liberalism and the Land' in June 2025.

Arthur (1913-2001) and Rosalinde Gilbert (1913-95) assembled an outstanding collection of gold and silver, enamel miniatures, gold boxes and micromosaics. The children of Jewish migrants from Eastern Europe, the Gilberts built a successful fashion business in London, before moving to Los Angeles in 1949, where they engaged in real estate and philanthropy. In 1996, after his wife’s death, Arthur Gilbert decided to donate his collections to the British nation, and since 2008 they have been housed at the V&A, where they inspired the pioneering exhibition about Nazi looting ‘Concealed Histories’ (2019-20). Staff at the V&A, and especially Alice Minter, the senior curator of the Gilbert Collection, have collaborated with the JCH team on a workshop studying Jewish art dealers, and a conference exploring the museum’s Jewish heritage.

One of the foremost collections of art from the Danish ‘golden age’, the Hirschsprung opened its doors to the public in 1911. The paintings were assembled by tobacco manufacturer Heinrich Hirschsprung (1836-1908), of German-Jewish descent, who became a major patron of artists in late nineteenth-century Denmark. With his wife Pauline (1845-1912), he turned his home into a gathering point for artists, critics and writers. Curator Rasmus Kjaeboe has participated in several JCH conferences and publications, and has created a network ‘Nordic Art, Jewish Heart’ with curators of other collections with Jewish stories across Scandinavia.

Historic England is the public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England’s spectacular historic environment. Among other things, Historic England maintains the National Heritage List for England. The Jewish Country Houses team worked with Historic England to lead a programme of minor amendments, ensuring the visibility of Jewish country house as a heritage category within it, and also led a broader call to the general public to enrich the list with Jewish stories.

The Holocaust Educational Trust’s mission is to educate every person from every background in the UK about the Holocaust and its contemporary relevance. In 2022 the Jewish Country Houses team worked with the HET to pilot a programme on “Teaching the Holocaust through the Jewish Country House” to school teachers. The HET is also working with us to support one of the JCH doctoral students through a Collaborative Doctoral Award.

JTrails is the official Jewish Heritage Trail of the UK and is part of the European Route of Jewish Heritage, a Cultural Route supported by the Council of Europe.

The Liebermann Villa on Lake Wannsee, supported by the Max Liebermann Society, is the former summer house of the painter Max Liebermann (1847-1935). After an eventful history in the years after 1940, the house and garden were completely renovated by the Society and opened to the public in 2006. The villa is now an art museum dedicated to Max Liebermann and his era.

In partnership with the JCH project, the Villa is supporting one of our doctoral students through a Collaborative Doctoral Award . The Villa features in the “Jewish Country Houses” book, and will host the exhibition of Hélène Binet’s JCH photography in Autumn 2025.

Housed within the monumental complex of the Great Synagogue, the Jewish Museum of Rome chronicles one of the oldest continuous Jewish presences outside Israel, spanning 2,200 years of Roman Jewish life. The museum's collections, primarily dating from the Ghetto period (1555-1870), originate from the historic Five Synagogues building and trace Jewish settlement in Rome from the second century BCE. The museum regularly hosts exhibitions and conducts research on various aspects of Roman Jewish history and culture, including a significant 2019 exhibition on archaeologist and art dealer Ludwig Pollak (Prague, 1868 - Auschwitz, 1943). This active research and exhibition program continues to expand our understanding of Rome's Jewish heritage. The Museo Ebraico is a partner in our John Fell funded Beyond Jewish Country Houses work.

The National Heritage Institute manages more than a hundred state monuments, and operates as an extension of the Ministry of Culture in the Czech Republic. We have collaborated closely with the National Heritage Institute in Brno for nearly ten years, which hosted our 2023 conference 'Jewish Country Houses and the Holocaust in History and Memory', and will also host the exhibition of Hélène Binet’s JCH photography. JCH heritage in the Czech Republic forms the focus of a chapter in  the book 'Jewish Country Houses'.

The National Trust collaborates with the project with ta view to revealing shared Jewish histories across their UK sites, and establishing connectivity with the broader European Jewish context. The Trust works to help their sites of Jewish heritage become more dynamic and relevant, creating 'living cultural resources'. Key collaborative work strands have included public engagement across core sites, research mentoring and support for curators and site teams, case studies for inclusion in project publications, and the sponsoring of workshops and conferences.

Although internationally known for its creator, the writer Horace Walpole (1717-1797), Strawberry Hill House during the 19th century was occupied, furnished and decorated with sumptuous collections by two owners of Jewish origin: Lady Frances Waldegrave (née Braham) and the Stern family. The Strawberry Hill Trust's partnership with the project has enabled further exploration of the house's history and that of the women who influenced the property, both socially and decoratively.

urKultur is an international arts consultancy based in Berlin and specialising in art commissions, feasibility studies, specially curated programmes as well as fundraising strategies and events. Founded by Ruth Ur, urKultur draws on a substantial international network of contacts in the arts, business and politics and clients include Deutsche Bahn, the City of Thessaloniki, Jewish Museum Frankfurt and the British Embassy Berlin. urKultur has worked with the JCH on several contemporary art projects.

Waddesdon Manor's partnership with the Jewish Country Houses project aims to understand more fully, and to communicate to the public, the Jewish context of the house and its role in the self-fashioning of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. A major element of the collaboration will be the creation of a digital edition of Ferdinand de Rothschild's writings.