Jewish Museum Vienna, Judenplatz

Judenplatz is a historic city square, which was the center of Jewish life in medieval Vienna. This museum, sister site to the Jewish Museum in nearby Dorotheergasse, was inaugurated in 2000, and is home to the excavations of a medieval synagogue and an accompanying permanent display on medieval history. Outside the museum stands the Holocaust Memorial created by leading contemporary artist Rachel Whiteread. The cube-like structure features rows of inverted cast library shelving, referring to themes of memory, loss and the Jews as “People of the Book.” It commemorates the 65,000 Austrian Jews killed during the Holocaust.