Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cost and Hours:
€10, includes audioguide, €17 combo-ticket with Haus der Musik,
daily 10:00-19:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing, a block behind the cathedral,
go through arcade at #5a and walk 50 yards to Domgasse 5, tel. 01/512-1791,
The classy square called Judenplatz marks the location of Vienna's 15th-century Jewish
community, one of Europe's largest at the time. Once filled with a long-gone synagogue, the
square is now dominated by a blocky
memorial
to the 65,000 Viennese Jews killed by the
Nazis. The memorial—a library turned inside out—invokes Jewish identity as a “people of
thebook”andasksviewerstoponderthehugelossofculture,knowledge,andhumanitythat
took place between 1938 and 1945.
The museum operates two buildings, one on Judenplatz and another on Dorotheergasse, a
block south of the Graben.
Cost and Hours:
€10 ticket includes both museums; Judenplatz location, at #8—Sun-
Thu 10:00-18:00, Fri 10:00-14:00, closed Sat; Dorotheergasse location, at #11—Sun-Fri
10:00-18:00, closed Sat; tel. 01/535-0431,
www.jmw.at
.
Visiting the Museums:
The
Museum Judenplatz,
while sparse, has displays on medi-
eval Jewish life and a well-done video re-creating the ghetto as it looked five centuries ago.
Wander the scant remains of the medieval synagogue below street level—discovered dur-
ing the construction of the Holocaust memorial. This was the scene of a medieval massacre.
Since Christians weren't allowed to lend money, Jews were Europe's moneylenders. As so
often happened in Europe, when Viennese Christians fell too deeply into debt, they found a
convenient excuse to wipe out the local ghetto—and their debts at the same time. In 1421,
thesynagoguewasdestroyed,andJewswhorefusedaforcedconversionwereexpelledfrom
the city or murdered.
The
Jewish Museum Dorotheergasse
is small and modern. Its exhibits document the
Viennese Jewish community before 1938 and in recent decades. Its evocative third floor is a
“visible storage” archive with stacks of Judaica and works of art that once ornamented syn-
agogues. The collection is well described in English and by the €2 audioguide.
This massive church is the Gothic needle around which Vienna spins. According to the me-
dieval vision of its creators, it stands like a giant jeweled reliquary, offering praise to God
from the center of the city. The church and its towers, especially the 450-foot south tower,
give the city its most iconic image. (Check your pockets for €0.10 coins; those minted in
