Jüdisches Museum Wien

About the museum

Vienna had the world’s first Jewish museum: an association of Jewish citizens opened it in 1895 and collected above all testimonies of Jewish culture from Vienna, Galicia and the rest of the monarchy. Immediately after the “Anschluss” in 1938 the National Socialists closed the museum and distributed its holdings among other Viennese institutions; parts were misused for an antisemitic propaganda show. Only a portion was returned to the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde after 1945, and more than half is still considered lost today.

The present Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna was founded in 1988, after Mayor Helmut Zilk had announced the initiative in New York in 1986. After a first exhibition in 1990 in the former banquet hall of the Kultusgemeinde, the museum moved into Palais Eskeles on Dorotheergasse in 1993. Its foundation is the Judaica collection of Max Berger, the holdings of the Kultusgemeinde as a permanent loan and further private collections. After a renovation in 2011, the permanent exhibition “Unsere Stadt! Jüdisches Wien bis heute” followed in 2013, which, starting from the present, tells the history from the Middle Ages to the Shoah; a visible storage area makes the collections accessible.

Since October 2000 the Museum Judenplatz has been part of the museum. It opened at the same time as Rachel Whiteread’s memorial to the Austrian Jewish victims of the Shoah and shows the remains of the medieval synagogue destroyed in 1420/21. Since 2021 the permanent exhibition “Unser Mittelalter!” in the basement has told the story of Vienna’s first Jewish community with virtual reconstructions. Barbara Staudinger has directed the museum since July 2022.

Highlights

• Excavation of the medieval synagogue beneath Judenplatz
• Visible storage with the collections of the first Jewish Museum, the Kultusgemeinde and the Berger collection
• Room installation “The Shabbat Room” by Maya Zack
• Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue destroyed in 1421
• One ticket for both venues, valid for seven days

Permanent exhibitions

• Unsere Stadt! Jüdisches Wien bis heute – Begins in the present with the post-war community and leads back on the second floor through Viennese Jewish history from the Middle Ages to the Shoah; this includes a visible storage area and an installation by Maya Zack.
• Unser Mittelalter! Die erste jüdische Gemeinde in Wien – At Museum Judenplatz: excavation of the synagogue destroyed in 1421 and topography of the medieval Jewish quarter, with virtual reconstructions and stations for children.

Founded

1988

Operated by

Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Wien GmbH

Director

Barbara Staudinger

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Every last Friday of the month from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. free admission for everyone (“Happy Friday”); every first Wednesday of the month free admission for seniors.

The ticket is valid for seven days for both venues (Dorotheergasse and Judenplatz). Free admission with, among others, ICOM and IAA ID, Kulturpass (“Hunger auf Kunst und Kultur”), Vienna PASS, Flexi PASS, Museumsbund Österreich, social or mobility pass, and for Ukrainian nationals.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Both venues are accessible, with a wheelchair-accessible passenger lift and an accessible toilet on the ground floor. The excavation at Museum Judenplatz can be reached via a stair lift.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations

Children’s and family programmes according to the tour calendar; the permanent exhibition at Museum Judenplatz has interactive offerings and its own stations for children. For at home, the museum character Celina tells stories from the museum.

Getting there & parking

The museum recommends arriving by public transport. The two venues are about a 7-minute walk apart.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Taïm Café in the Museum Dorotheergasse (Sun–Fri 10 a.m.–6 p.m.) with vegetarian and vegan cuisine from the eastern Mediterranean; museum shop with a selection of books on Dorotheergasse.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Atrium for smaller events and auditorium for larger evening events in Palais Eskeles – for example lectures, concerts, receptions, gala dinners as well as civil weddings and registered partnerships; catering by Café Taïm or of your own choosing.

Plan your visit