The world’s oldest museum for Jewish culture
Located in Vienna’s Old Town, this museum was the first of its kind when it was established in 1896. Today it spans two locations: the Palais Eskeles in Dorotheergasse and a second site a short walk away in Judenplatz, featuring the excavations of a medieval synagogue and Rachel Whiteread’s Holocaust Memorial. At Dorotheergasse, permanent exhibitions look at Jewish life in Vienna and the wider history of Judaism. The collection spans photographs, personal documents and everyday items to paintings and classical Judaica. Work by contemporary artists Nancy Spero and Brigitte Kowanz features in The Shabbat Room, alongside a recreation of the “Gute Stube” — an 1899 traveling installation by the Viennese Jewish painter Isidor Kaufmann, which was confiscated by the Gestapo in 1938 along with the rest of the museums’ holdings. Maya Zack recreates the work using computer-generated imagery, drawing on photographic material and objects from the original piece.
Read Less