History of the Jews in Vienna's Leopoldstadt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Strictly Orthodox Jews on Karmeliterplatz, 1915

This article deals with the life of the Jewish population, beginning with the founding of the Jewish ghetto in “Unteren Werd”, the later Viennese suburb of Leopoldstadt , which has been Vienna's 2nd district since 1850.

Ghetto in the "Lower Werd"

Memorial plaque in the Große Pfarrgasse

The ghetto in Unteren Werd in today's Leopoldstadt was founded in 1624 and existed until 1670. Before that, the Jews in Vienna had suffered from the prevailing anti-Semitism since the 12th century. Whenever money was needed from the City of Vienna, the Jewish population in the ghetto had to pay contributions. The ghetto was founded as a result of a settlement crisis after the Thirty Years War.

Already in the 16th century there was great oppression of Jews, whose property was expropriated at that time, whereupon the idea arose to settle them in the "Lower Werd". In 1626 a heather behind the Carmelite monastery was leased to the Jewish community. This area is located in today's Carmelite Quarter .

By 1669 136 houses were built in the area, including two synagogues ("Old Synagogue" and "New Synagogue"). There was also a meeting house, hospital, guard house, and several educational centers. Outside the ghetto, the doctors were very respected, and the study building also received recognition. In the course of time, poor sanitary conditions led to mass illnesses from plague , typhus and smallpox , and persecution by Christians.

After the accusation of “ ritual murder ”, the situation in the ghetto degenerated: repeated attacks, devastation of many facilities and fires shocked the Jewish population. From June 26, 1668, Jews living in the ghetto were forbidden to leave the area. After the expulsion of Jews from Leopoldstadt on July 25, 1670 by order of Emperor Leopold I , who at the same time obliged the City of Vienna to buy this area, the New Synagogue was torn down and the Leopold Church was built in its place in Grosse Pfarrgasse. This was a condition of the emperor to the municipality of Vienna, which also had to finance it. This part of Leopoldstadt thus became the first district of Vienna outside of the previous city walls.

Tolerance of Jews and cultural boom

The Leopoldstädter Tempel or Great Temple, after Rudolf von Alt
Interior view of the Turkish Temple, after a watercolor by Franz Reinhold 1890

After a few years, Leopold I no longer adhered to his own "ban on Jews". A few years before his death he called the court factors Samuel Oppenheimer and Samson Wertheimer back to the city of Vienna. Around 1700 ten privileged Jewish families were allowed to live in Vienna.

In 1764 Maria Theresa issued an ordinance on the Jews , but the Ottoman Sephardi were granted more rights, as they first came from Spain to the Ottoman Empire and then to Austria and as subjects of the Sultan were therefore not subject to any restrictions.

With the creation of the tolerance patents from 1781 by Joseph II , Protestants were initially given greater freedom, and in 1782 Jews too. After the March Revolution of 1848 , all work and housing restrictions fell. At that time, a third of the residents of Leopoldstadt were Jewish. The reason for this was that Jews from other parts of the monarchy also came to Vienna with the new Northern Railway . A large part of the Jewish bourgeoisie moved to Praterstrasse , workers and craftsmen lived in side streets.

In 1858 the largest synagogue in Vienna, the “ Great Temple ” in Tempelgasse, was inaugurated. In the Malzgasse (formerly Bräuhausgasse) was the "Israel Temple and School Association Hadas" from 1862. This was a private all-day school. Its current name is Talmud Torah School. Machsike Hadass is a kindergarten for girls and boys and a secondary school for boys and serves the educational needs of Orthodoxy. The focus of this all-day school is on teaching traditional religious objects and preparing for attending a yeshiva .

Subsequently, the " Turkish Temple " was built in 1887 in today's Zirkusgasse (formerly Große Fuhrmannsgasse), in 1893 the " Polish School " in today's Leopoldsgasse (formerly Strafhausgasse), and in 1913 the " Kaiser-Franz-Josephs-Huldingungstempel ", all of which served as prayer rooms. Coffee houses were also used as places of prayer on public holidays , as the temples were mostly overcrowded.

First World War and the interwar period

The "Cafe Sperlhof" in the Große Sperlgasse in the Karmeliterviertel was founded as a meeting point for Jewish artists

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, masses of Jews fled to Vienna. The number of Jewish refugees was between 50,000 (according to the police at the time) and 70,000 (according to the Arbeiter-Zeitung ), depending on the estimate , of which around 25,000 remained in Leopoldstadt. During this time the nickname " Mazze island" became common for Leopoldstadt. Several associations were formed to support the refugees. The large influx of Jews turned out to be a problem after a few years. Governor Albert Sever ordered all Jewish refugees to be deported. This was not carried out, but ever larger anti-Semitic currents formed within Vienna.

After the First World War , 180,000 Jews lived in Vienna, a third of them in Leopoldstadt, which made up almost half of the district's population. On Ferdinandstrasse in particular, almost only Sephardi lived (including the later wife of the writer Elias Canetti ). In the course of the 1920s, the social dichotomy increased: the rich bourgeoisie faced the poorer strata of the population, who mostly formed locksmiths, bakers or even the unemployed. Political Zionism and thus the desire for a Jewish state of its own found supporters especially among the poor.

Dissatisfied with the policies of the Social Democratic Workers' Party , which dominated " Red Vienna " , the " Jewish National Party " was formed, which ran in the National Council elections from 1919 and was comparatively successful in Leopoldstadt. After 1927 Leopoldstadt became one of the first districts in which National Socialist groups formed. In 1929 the Nazis destroyed the "Café Produktebörse", which was often visited by Jews. The “ Café Sperlhof ” was devastated during a Jewish service .

"Anschluss" and World War II

After Austria was annexed to the National Socialist German Reich on March 13, 1938, the leadership of the National Socialists dissolved on 9/10. November a pogrom, the so-called “ Reichskristallnacht ”, which also affected the Leopoldstadt district. Many Jewish institutions and places of worship were destroyed. The effects on the synagogues were particularly serious: the most important temple in today's Tempelgasse was destroyed by the pogroms . Today there is a memorial plaque on the Desider-Friedmann -Hof in Ferdinandstrasse, which commemorates the devastation.

At the end of February 1941, the Jewish school in Kleine Sperlgasse was closed and all children were transported to concentration camps . At Förstergasse 7, nine Jews managed to survive in a cellar until they were murdered by the SS on April 12, 1945 - shortly before the liberation of Vienna .

post war period

The “Stones of Remembrance” in memory of the murdered actors on Praterstrasse

Today more than 10,000 Jews live in Leopoldstadt again. Before 1938 there were a total of 60,000. Some survived the war in concentration camps or underground, the majority of the Jews living in Vienna are immigrants, for example from Hungary , Czechoslovakia  and the Soviet Union . “Stones of Remembrance”, similar to the stumbling blocks in Germany, were placed as memorials at various locations in the second district.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Helga Gibs: Leopoldstadt - Small world on the big river . Mohl Verlag, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-900272-54-9 , p. 10-12 .
  2. ^ Helga Gibs: Leopoldstadt - Small world on the big river . Mohl Verlag, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-900272-54-9 , p. 12-14 .
  3. ↑ From the St. Leopoldi parish church in the Leopold city of St. Brigida, in: Fuhrmann, Mathias (Hrsg.): Historical description and short-cut message from the Roman. Kaiserl. and Royal Residence City of Vienna, and its suburbs, Vienna 1767, Zweyter Volume, p. 435 ff. ( digitized version )
  4. ↑ a b c d Helga Gibs: Leopoldstadt - Small world on the big river . Mohl Verlag, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-900272-54-9 , p. 124-127 .
  5. ^ Talmud Torah elementary and secondary school Machsike Hadass for boys
  6. ↑ Ruth Beckermann: The Mazzesinsel. In: Ruth Beckermann (Ed.): The Mazzesinsel - Jews in Vienna's Leopoldstadt 1918-38. Löcker Verlag, Vienna 1984, ISBN 978-3-85409-068-7 , p. 16 f.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f Helga Gibs: Leopoldstadt - Small world on the big river . Mohl Verlag, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-900272-54-9 , p. 128-133 .
  8. ^ Markus Brosch: Jewish children and teachers between hope, exclusion and deportation. VS / HS Kleine Sperlgasse 2a, 1938 - 1941. Diploma thesis for Mag. Phil. in history, University of Vienna 2012; online at the University of Vienna (PDF, 2.2 MB), p. 70
  9. ↑ Liberation and the last massacre, DÖW doewweb01.doew.at ( Memento of the original from February 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / doewweb01.doew.at
  10. ↑ Return to the Leopoldschtetl. Retrieved June 20, 2017 .

literature

Web links