Diane Von Furstenberg’s $12M Push To Restore Venice Ghetto

Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen November 20, 2014

Getty Images

The world’s oldest ghetto is about to get a makeover.

Jewish-German designer Diane von Furstenberg is launching a $12 million initiative to restore the 500-year-old Venice Ghetto, i24 News reports. Von Furstenberg is spearheading the project, which would include rebuilding the neighborhood’s various synagogues, with real estate investor Joseph Sitt and other philanthropists contributing.

The ghetto was created in 1516 by the Doges of Venice as an alternative to expelling Jews from the city entirely. When the renovations are completed (reportedly in 2016, just in time for the 500th anniversary), the ghetto will become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“As much as this renovation is about preserving the past and the rich history of the Venetian and Jewish communities, today is about the future,” Von Furstenberg stated. “All of us are responsible for making sure that future generations – 500 years from today – have access to these stories of human culture and progress.”

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO