85 The Knesset Museum
Froumine House architect: Reuven Avram, 1949; Museum architects: Yoram Friedman and Yurek Paluch; Restoration architects: Giora Solar and Dror Solar, 2025
Come and get acquainted with the building that housed Israel’s Knesset from 1950 to 1966, where important chapters in the history of the State of Israel took place. Following extensive restoration works, it was reopened about a year ago and is now the Knesset Museum.
Froumine House was originally built in the International Style, which was common in Jerusalem in that period. With its rounded façade and jagged layer of stone, the building was intended for use by a bank and as a commercial property, in addition to serving as a residence for the Froumine family – the owners of a well-known biscuit factory. In 1950, after it was chosen to house the recently established Knesset, the building was expropriated from its owners and converted into Israel’s parliament.
The tours will be led by the project’s restoration architects, the museum’s curator and the museum director. Participants will hear about the history of the building, its architectural qualities, and the restoration and curation works that were carried out in order to convert it into a museum. Through interactive exhibits, films, simulations and original artifacts, the museum puts a spotlight on the early days of the Knesset and on the spirit of the time, while describing the parliament’s functions, challenges and values.
Thursday, October 15th, 18:00 and 19:00 (tours led by the museum staff, accompanied by the restoration architects Giora and Dror Solar); 19:40 and 20:00 (tours led by the museum staff).
Thursday, October 22nd, 18:00 (a tour led by Sharon Sofer, the museum’s art curator); 19:00 (a tour led by the Knesset Museum director, Dr. Moshe Fuksman Sha’al); 19:40 and 20:00 (tours led by the museum staff).
