Author Description

In March 2021 the Jewish Museum Vienna will be opening its new permanent exhibition at Museum Judenplatz. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication devoted to a chapter in Viennese history that has not had the attention it deserves. Medieval Vienna was home to one of the most important Jewish communities in Europe. Jews settled in the area of the present-day Judenplatz in the early thirteenth century and lived alongside and in close interaction with the Christian population for two hundred years, until they were robbed, expelled, and murdered by order of Duke Albert V in 1420/21. In ten essays and numerous illustrations, this book gives an overview not only of the first Jewish community in Vienna but also of the checkered history of Judenplatz. The focus on medieval Jewish Vienna hones perspectives on modern-day social interrelationships.