Austrian Jewish Museum

The Austrian Jewish Museum is located on Unterbergstraße 6 in Eisenstadt, Austria. The museum was founded in 1972 by Kurt Schubert, and was the first Jewish museum to open in Austria after 1945.[1]

History

Schubert was a Catholic professor who chaired the Judaic studies department at the University of Vienna during the post-World War II era. Due to the climate in Austria following the war, many projects regarding Judaism were private enterprises, as was the museum. It was situated in Eisenstadt, rather than Vienna, due to budgetary constraints. It catered to an academic clientele, rather than the general public, and initially were focused around annual symposiums held by the museum. Its creation paved the way for later museums in Austria dealing with Jewish topics, such as the Jewish Museum Vienna.[2][3]

The museum is housed today in the Wertheimerhaus, also called the Wertheimer'schen Freihaus, which was commissioned and financed by Esterhazy family and built by Samson Wertheimer in 1719, who earned the commission through service to the aristocratic family.[4] Wertheimer was an important businessman and served both the court in Vienna and the high rabbi in Hungary. This house was built in Eisenstadt during his own service as a high rabbi and housed a private synagoge with a separate room for women only. The synagoge is part of the museum exhibition.[5]

References
  1. "Schubert Founded Jewish Museum". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. February 5, 2007. p. 12A. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  2. Bunzl, Matti (2004). Symptoms of Modernity: Jews and Queers in Late-twentieth-century Vienna. University of California Press. pp. 162–63. ISBN 0520238435.
  3. Bohlman, Philip (2012). Jewish Music and Modernity. OUP USA. p. 105. ISBN 0199946841.
  4. Frank, Ben G. (1996). A Travel Guide to Jewish Europe. Pelican Publishing. p. 255. ISBN 1455613290.
  5. Fodor's, Inc. Fodor's Travel Publications (2009). Fodor's Austria. Fodor's Travel Publications. p. 162. ISBN 1400008174.

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