Leopoldstadt: The Vienna That No Longer Exists

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The first mention of Jews in Vienna dates from 1194. The medieval community, centred on what is now Judenplatz, was destroyed in the Wiener Gesera of 1421 — a pogrom and expulsion ordered by Duke Albrecht V, in which almost all Vienna’s Jews were murdered or driven out. Rachel Whiteread’s Holocaust Memorial on Judenplatz (unveiled in 2000) commemorates that first catastrophe as well — fragments of the medieval synagogue’s foundations, uncovered in 1995, are accessible in an underground chamber today.

Jews returned to Vienna only in the seventeenth century, but a further expulsion came in 1670 — Emperor Leopold I drove out the community and renamed their district across the Danube Canal from Werd to Leopoldstadt (Leopold’s City). After only two decades the Habsburgs again let Jews in — individual financier families (Schutzjuden) at first, later whole communities. Joseph II’s Patent of Toleration in 1781 lifted the basic restrictions, and in 1782 the first Reform synagogue in the monarchy (the Wiener Tempel, the Stadttempel) was approved for construction.

The Stadttempel on Seitenstettengasse 4, built in 1825-1826 in the Classicist style by the architect Joseph Kornhäusel, remains Vienna’s main synagogue. Its distinguishing feature — entirely concealed from the street within a residential tenement, with no façade identifying it as a synagogue. A Habsburg requirement: synagogues in Vienna could not have a visible street façade or entrance and could only be built within courtyards and tenements. This regulation, oppressive in intent, ironically saved the Stadttempel — Kristallnacht 1938 burned 89 of Vienna’s 90 synagogues, but the Stadttempel could not be set alight without destroying the entire surrounding residential block.

The second half of the nineteenth century was the golden age of Jewish Vienna. After full emancipation in 1867 the community grew quickly — from 6,000 in 1850 to 175,000 by 1910. Most settled in Leopoldstadt (the second district), Alsergrund (the ninth) and Brigittenau (the twentieth). Leopoldstadt — with its Taborstraße, Karmelitergasse, Praterstraße and Krummbaumgasse — became the "Mazzeinsel" (Matzo Island) of Vienna’s Jews. Here stood the principal synagogues (Tempelgasse, Pazmanitengasse, Schiffschul, Polnische Schul), Jewish schools, kosher shops, dozens of Hasidic shtiblach (Vienna drew Galician Jews fleeing poverty), and the literary centres of the Café Tournesol and Café Central.

Out of Leopoldstadt and Vienna came Sigmund Freud, Theodor Herzl (founder of Zionism, originally buried in Vienna and later moved to Mount Herzl in Jerusalem), Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth, Arnold Schönberg, Gustav Mahler (converted in 1897), Bruno Schulz studied in Vienna, Joseph Samuel Bloch, the rabbis Adolf Jellinek and Moritz Güdemann, the composers Korngold and Goldmark. The Viennese constellation of Jewish scientists, lawyers, doctors and artists was one of the densest in Europe.

The Anschluss of 12-13 March 1938 changed everything within twenty-four hours. Pogroms in the streets of Leopoldstadt — Jews forced to scrub pavements with toothbrushes, peyot shaved off in public, beards burned. During Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) German and Austrian SA burned 89 of Vienna’s 90 synagogues. Before the outbreak of war, 130,000 Vienna Jews had managed to emigrate — chiefly to the United States, Britain, Palestine and Shanghai. The remaining 65,000 were deported between 1941 and 1942 to Łódź, Minsk, Riga, Treblinka, Sobibor and Auschwitz. Around 5,800 survived.

After the war the return of Jews was slow — the Austrian administration was reluctant to recognise restitution claims and the country was unwilling to confront its complicity in Nazism. Only in 1991 did Chancellor Franz Vranitzky publicly acknowledge Austrian co-responsibility. Today the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (IKG) has around 8,000 registered members — the highest figure since 1945. Active synagogues: the Stadttempel (the main Orthodox synagogue), the Polnischer Tempel (Leopoldsgasse 29), Beit Lerov (Tempelgasse 5), the Sephardic Temple (Tempelgasse 5), and smaller shtiblach. Karmelitermarkt in Leopoldstadt — the historic market — is today a centre of Jewish revival, with cafés, a kosher delicatessen and the restaurant Neni am Naschmarkt.

The memorial route through Jewish Vienna covers two distinct areas: the first district (Innere Stadt) with Judenplatz, the Stadttempel and the Jewish Museum on Dorotheergasse, and the second district (Leopoldstadt) with the memorials on Tempelgasse, Karmelitermarkt and the Polnischer Schul. The full route is six kilometres on foot — about ninety minutes of walking, plus time at each site.

We recommend starting at the Jewish Museum at Dorotheergasse 11 (opens at 10:00, Sunday to Friday). Two hours for the full programme — the permanent exhibition "Our City! Jewish Vienna from 1850 to the Present" plus rotating temporary shows. From there, seven minutes on foot to Judenplatz — Rachel Whiteread’s Holocaust Memorial (unveiled 2000), a cube-shaped concrete cast with inverted books on its facades, a symbol for the 65,000 Austrian Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Beneath the square — the Jewish Museum Judenplatz with the foundations of the medieval synagogue destroyed in 1421.

Five minutes further on foot to the Stadttempel — Seitenstettengasse 4. Entry only on an IKG guided tour (booking at least a week in advance through the Community website), Mondays and Thursdays at 11:30, an hour’s walk. The Stadttempel is at once an active synagogue and a protected building — since the terrorist attack of 1981 (a PLO assault, two victims) all guests are screened by Austrian protection police.

The second part of the route — Leopoldstadt (the second district). Across the Schwedenbrücke fifteen minutes on foot, or three minutes by Mercedes V-Class. The central point — Tempelgasse, where until 1938 stood the Leopoldstädter Tempel (Wiener Tempel) — Vienna’s largest synagogue, built in 1858 in the Moorish style and destroyed during Kristallnacht. Today its site holds a memorial — four steel columns (the synagogue’s original columns) and the Eseraim community centre. Karmelitermarkt — five minutes on foot — was and is the Jewish market, with the kosher delicatessen Bahur (Karmeliterplatz 1) and several restaurants.

The third stage — the Central Cemetery (Zentralfriedhof), Tor 1 and Tor 4 (two Jewish sections). Tor 1 — the old section, established 1879, with the graves of Theodor Herzl (original burial, now symbolic), Arthur Schnitzler, Friedrich Torberg and the composer Karl Goldmark. Tor 4 — the new section, damaged in the war and now restored. Twenty minutes by V-Class from the centre, two hours to visit.

For meals afterwards — Neni am Naschmarkt (Israeli cuisine, not kosher), Bahur (kosher delicatessen on Karmelitermarkt), Alef Alef (kosher dairy on Seitenstettengasse 2, directly beside the Stadttempel).

Contemporary Jewish life in Vienna has been re-emerging for two decades. The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (IKG) has around 8,000 members, but the broader community — including immigrants from the former Soviet Union (Bukharian and Georgian Jews), Israeli residents, and Austrian families in the third generation — numbers 12,000-15,000. This is the largest reconstituted German-speaking Jewish community and the only one in Central Europe to have grown steadily since 1990.

Active synagogues: the Stadttempel (Seitenstettengasse 4, the main Orthodox synagogue, open by guided tour), the Polnischer Tempel (Leopoldsgasse 29, Hasidic Orthodox), Beit Lerov and the Sephardic Temple (Tempelgasse 5, Sephardic-Bukharian), Misrachi (Judengasse 8), and ten smaller shtiblach in the second district. Daily services, Shabbatot, the Talmud Torah yeshiva, ESRA — psychosocial care for Holocaust survivors and their descendants — and the Zwi Perez Chajes Jewish school.

A visit to Jewish Vienna calls for booking — the Stadttempel can only be entered on an IKG guided tour after prior registration (at least a week in advance, hour-long walks Mondays and Thursdays at 11:30). The Jewish Museum on Dorotheergasse and Judenplatz can be entered without reservation, but during spring and summer we recommend buying tickets online. Opening hours: Museums Monday-Thursday and Sunday 10:00-18:00, Friday 10:00-14:00, closed Saturday.

Etiquette in the Stadttempel: men with a kippah (available at the entrance), women in modest dress. Security screening at the entrance — an Austrian officer checks identity documents and, where needed, bags. Photography inside is allowed without flash. During services, visits are suspended — tourists are asked to keep silence and leave.

Kosher kitchens: Alef Alef on Seitenstettengasse 2 (dairy, under IKG supervision, closest to the Stadttempel), Bahur on Karmelitermarkt (kosher delicatessen, second district), the Glatt Kosher Center on Tempelgasse 7 (a shop and small restaurant). Neni am Naschmarkt — Israeli cuisine without kosher certification, but with vegetarian and vegan options.

Mercedes V-Class from Schwechat Airport (VIE) to a first-district hotel — 25-30 minutes, 18 kilometres. From a hotel to Judenplatz — five to ten minutes on foot (if the hotel is in the first district), or five minutes by V-Class. The Stadttempel, Judenplatz, the Dorotheergasse Museum and Alef Alef all lie within eight minutes on foot. Transfer to Leopoldstadt (Tempelgasse, Karmelitermarkt) — five minutes by V-Class across the Schwedenbrücke, or fifteen minutes on foot.

V-Class parking: the underground car park at Hotel Sacher (Philharmonikerstrasse 4) or Goldenes Quartier (Tuchlauben), both within walking distance of the Stadttempel. For Leopoldstadt — Donaucity parking (Reichsbrücke) or the Karmelitermarkt underground garage.

Recommended day format: 9:30 departure from your hotel, 10:00-12:00 Jewish Museum Dorotheergasse, 12:00-12:30 Judenplatz (the Holocaust Memorial and the underground Museum), 12:30-13:30 kosher lunch (Alef Alef), 13:30-15:00 the Stadttempel with an IKG guide (booked in advance), 15:00-17:30 Leopoldstadt on foot with the V-Class following (Tempelgasse, Karmelitermarkt, Polnischer Tempel), 17:30 return to your hotel. An optional second day — the Jewish sections of the Zentralfriedhof (Tor 1 and Tor 4) and the Sigmund Freud Museum at Berggasse 19 (Alsergrund, ninth district).