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46-712: The first Jewish Museum in Vienna, founded in 1896, was the first Jewish museum in the world of its sort. It was supported and run by the "Society for the Collection and Preservation of Artistic and Historical Memorials of Jewry". The museum focused on the culture and history of the Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially in Vienna and Galicia, while its collection of objects from the British Mandate of Palestine also reflected

92-444: A diverse overlaying of the virtual and the real in her three-dimensional objects. The mutual reflection of light, language and mirror (Rainer Fuchs) produces hybrid spaces whose boundaries seem to be clearly defined at one moment, but gone again the next. Real space and virtual reflection penetrate each other, the boundaries between artwork and observer became fluid. The occupation with the intangible physics of light, which – although

138-399: A guarantee of visibility – is itself slightly overlooked, persists in the works of Brigitte Kowanz. Kowanz lived and worked in Vienna. She died on 28 January 2022, at the age of 64. Brigitte Kowanz was the daughter of the well-known footballer Karl Kowanz (1926-1998), her mother Edith worked as a clerk, her older brother Karl (* 1951) became a graphic artist. Brigitte Kowanz graduated from

184-597: A huge beer garden , sells the original Czech Budweiser draught beer . The owners claim that, back in the 1920s, the potato crisp was invented there. Nearby you can find the "Republic of Kugelmugel ", a micronation proclaimed in 1984 that became a landmark of the area. There is also a miniature steam railway (" Liliputbahn ") which, on its track through the woodland parallel to the Hauptallee , passes Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion . Another, smaller, park in Leopoldstadt

230-585: A limited company under the management of director Christian Cap the museum was given the management of the Max Berger Collection and the IKG Collection. In 1993 Austrian collector Martin Schlaff presented to the city of Vienna his collection of antisemitica, containing about 5,000 objects, and covering a period from 1490 to 1946, so that they could be catalogued and prepared for a major exhibition. In 1993

276-504: A traditional theater district, Leopoldstadt had, in the middle of the 20th century, numerous cinemas. As a result of the spread of television in Austria from the late 1950s, cinemas began to close in the 1960s, by which the 2nd District was severely affected. By and by, Leopold townspeople cinemas were closed, and now there is no single regular cinema in the district area. Even the UCI opened in 1999, at

322-499: Is that of language and writing and its translation into codes . Light was investigated as a space-forming medium as well as an information carrier and medium of knowledge and visibility. From 1995, Kowanz also regularly used the morse alphabet – based on simple dash-dot combinations – for coding purposes. As a binary code, it represents the origin of the transfer of information using light. Kowanz used (semi-)transparent glasses and mirrors , especially in her later works. This led to

368-533: Is the topiary -type Augarten , which is the home of the Vienna Boys' Choir and of a porcelain manufactory ("Augarten-Porzellan"). Its distinguishing marks are two disused Flak towers built towards the end of the Second World War . For features of this versatile district not listed here, see the bottom-linked Leopoldstadt Category page. In 1625, Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller became the rabbi of Vienna. At

414-582: Is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna ( German : 2. Bezirk ) in Austria. As of 1 January 2016, there are 103,233 inhabitants over 19.27 km (7 sq mi). It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th district), forms a large island surrounded by the Danube Canal and, to the north, the Danube . It is named after Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor . Due to its relatively high percentage of Jewish inhabitants before

460-625: The Austrian film archive established here and at the Metro Cinema (1st district) shows historical films and scientific research. In the year 2007, Brooklyn , New York City entered into a district partnership with the Viennese district of Leopoldstadt. Other sources 48°12′37″N 16°24′44″E  /  48.21028°N 16.41222°E  / 48.21028; 16.41222 Brigitte Kowanz Brigitte Kowanz (13 April 1957 – 28 January 2022)

506-565: The Holocaust (38.5 percent in 1923), Leopoldstadt gained the nickname Mazzesinsel (' Matzo Island'). This context was a significant aspect for the district twinning with the New York City borough Brooklyn in 2007. Places of interest include the Wiener Prater (from Latin pratum "meadow"), former imperial hunting grounds to which the public was denied access until 1766. The area of

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552-707: The Palais Eskeles in the Dorotheergasse in Vienna was put at the disposal of the museum by the auction house Dorotheum . Julius H. Schoeps, director of the Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum für europäisch-jüdische Studien at the University of Potsdam , was appointed director. On 24 November 1994 Paul Grosz, president of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien , opened the museum library. In 1995/1996

598-605: The Prater closest to the city centre contains a large amusement park , known as the Volksprater ("People's Prater") or Wurstelprater (after the Harlequin -type figure of Hanswurst ), and at its entrance there is the giant Wiener Riesenrad Ferris wheel opened in 1897 which features prominently in the movie The Third Man and which has become one of Vienna's landmarks. The Schweizerhaus (" Swiss Hut "), an establishment boasting

644-581: The anti-Semitic exhibition "The Corporeal and Spiritual Properties of the Jews". At the beginning of the 1950s, the majority of that stock was restituted to the Jewish community ( Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien ), with some additional objects being returned in the 1990s. On 31 December 1964 a small Jewish museum was opened in the newly built Desider-Friedmann-Hof in Tempelgasse 3, but received scarcely any public attention. It closed for renovation work in 1967 and

690-603: The Jewish Museum before 1938, and to a small extent also from private households. The displays on the side cases focus of the period after 1945 : they include objects of the Max Berger Collection of Austro-Hungarian Judaica, the Eli Stern collection that is mainly made up of everyday objects from Eretz Yisrael, and the new acquisitions and donations that trace the history of Vienna's Jewish community from 1945 to now. The Martin Schlaff "Antisemitic objects" collection, also housed on

736-606: The Jewish life cycle through museum items and everyday objects. As part of the renovation, the Visible Storage area ("Schaudepot") in the third floor was completely redesigned to house the museum's Judaica collection. Individual objects are highlighted and explained through an installation of "windows" in the glass display cases, each window corresponding to a location, such as the "Leopoldstadt Temple" in Vienna. The central display features objects of Viennese and Austrian prayer houses, synagogues and other Jewish institutions, from

782-562: The Judenplatz location posted doubling of its visitor numbers year on year (28,000 visitors in 2011 vs 14,000 in 2010) while the attendance to its evening events program tripled. Visitor figures over both locations reached 59,471 in 2011, and posted a strong start in 2012, with 22,000 visitors recorded in the first quarter alone. The museum is currently in the Top 30 of Viennese attractions with 133,000 visitors in 2018. After three years of preparation,

828-720: The Mehrsälekino Lassallestraße, was already closed three years later because of poor attendance. The former cinemas, in the order of closure, are: This development is however an increasing demand for outdoor summer cinema , since the early 1990s, before the Vienna City Hall every summer, the Film Festival at the Vienna City Hall Square takes place. In the 2nd District, there are currently four summer open-air cinemas: In Augarten (Obere Augartenstraße 1),

874-471: The Palais Eskeles adapted for the museum by the Viennese team of architects eichinger oder knechtl to create more display spaces, increase storage, and add a coffee house and a specialist bookshop. In 1998, the museum archive with an ever-growing collection of materials on the history of Jewish Vienna was publicly available. On 25 October 2000, the second building of the museum was opened in Judenplatz with

920-683: The Prater, and the Jewish Ghetto. The Museum für Unterhaltungskunst covers the history of clowns, artists, and circuses; whereas the Museum des Blindenwesens in his exhibition shows the development of teaching and lessons for the blind and Braille . The Wiener Kriminalmuseum ("Vienna Crime Museum"), connected with the Museum of the Vienna Federal Police Directorate, brings the visitor closer to

966-459: The United States. The renovation, between January and October 2011 aimed at a complete technical overhaul of the museum infrastructure as well as to changes in layout and visitor facilities. During the renovation project, a set of glass holograms showing 3D depictions of old Viennese life was broken on its removal from the museum. A museum employee took pictures and sent them to curator blogs and

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1012-656: The Younger in the Praterstraße. The Belvedere has also two branch offices in the 2nd District: Augarten Contemporary (contemporary art) and the neighboring Gustinus-Ambrosi Museum . The Augarten factory has regular exhibits of porcelain in the foyer of the Palais Augarten. In the great hall of the former Agricultural Products Exchange (Taborstraße 10), the team of Serapions Ensembles to Erwin Piplits and Ulrike Kaufmann with

1058-401: The annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. A fragment of a Torah scroll was saved by Heschel Messias from one of the synagogues as it burned. The Jewish population was increasingly isolated and terrorised and was finally deported and exterminated in concentration camps such as Auschwitz . The once thriving communal life was completely destroyed. Only a handful of survivors were able to hide until

1104-533: The area Leopoldstadt ('Leopold's city'), after the emperor. During the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , Jewish immigrants from eastern parts of the realm again flocked to Leopoldstadt, owing to the proximity of the Nordbahnhof railway station , which was one of the main railway stations at which migrants from other parts of the empire arrived in Vienna. The high number of Jewish inhabitants led to

1150-790: The area being called Mazzesinsel ('Island of Matzo', referring to the unleavened bread eaten during Passover). Several important synagogues were located there, including the Schiff Shul , the Leopoldstädter Tempel , the Türkischer Tempel , the Polnische Schul , and the Pazmanitentempel , as well as yeshivas . None of the synagogues escaped the destruction during the Kristallnacht pogroms of November 1938 following

1196-419: The area was called Im Werd , with the Jewish population living in an area called Unterer Werd . The hatred that Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor held for the Jews led to the forceful expulsion and destruction of the Jewish community ( Vienna Gesera , from Hebrew : גזרה , 'decree'), with the popular support of the local non-Jewish population. As a thanksgiving for the expulsion, the inhabitants renamed

1242-629: The assistance of the City Council until 1988, created the Odeon, a flexible theater space of considerable proportions. The Serapionsensemble, Neue Oper Wien , and other artists appear here. The name recalls the Odeon dance hall, which was located in the area of today's Odeongasse, behind the Agricultural Exchange. Opened in 1845 and destroyed by fire in 1848, it was the largest dance hall in Vienna at that time, with room for several thousand persons. As

1288-646: The district, including the terminal of the '1' tram in the Wiener Prater. The arms of the Leopoldstadt district, since the retirement of Brigittenau from the 2nd District, contains three parts, symbolizing the former independent communities: The Leopoldstadt Museum has a particular emphasis on the arts. The focus is on, inter alia , the Theater in Leopoldstadt , the Carl-Theater , the Leopoldstädter Theater ,

1334-469: The end of the war, from an original population of several thousands. With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 , and renewed immigration from Eastern Europe, especially the former Soviet Union, the Jewish population of Leopoldstadt was able to grow again. Today, many members of Vienna's Jewish community live there again, and there are a number of shops and restaurants selling kosher food. Several parts of

1380-615: The history of the judiciary and the police and of criminality from the late Middle Ages forward. Two major museums in Vienna have branch offices in Leopoldstadt. The Vienna Museum (formerly the Museum of the City of Vienna) operates the Prater Museum (next to the Ferris wheel) on the history of the Wurstelprater amusement park and also allows visits to the home of the "Waltz King" Johann Strauss

1426-467: The local media, creating a furore about what critics said was the destruction of cultural artifacts. The museum responded with a report from a court-certified expert who testified the holograms could not have been unmounted without damage as they had been glued together almost 15 years prior. The museum added that a second set of the same holograms, that had not been on display, was still intact and would be placed in storage for future use. On 19 October 2011

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1472-771: The museum launched its new permanent exhibition “Our City! Jewish Vienna –Then to now” in November 2013. The exhibition tracks the history of Vienna's Jews as a key part of the cultural, financial and emotional life of the Austrian capital for centuries, but with particular emphasis on the years from 1945 to the present day, and the slow but steady flourishing of the decimated community. 48°12′26″N 16°22′08″E  /  48.2072288889°N 16.369017°E  / 48.2072288889; 16.369017 Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt ( German pronunciation: [ˈleːopɔldˌʃtad] ; Viennese : Leopoidstod ; "Leopold-Town")

1518-429: The museum opened to great public interest in the new premises, while the temporary exhibition "Bigger than life - 100 years of Hollywood" that focused on Jewish Austrian contribution to the U.S. film industry, was described as a real crowd puller. As part of the renovation, the museum's facade was refreshed and the building's purpose made more prominent with a large light installation by Austrian artist Brigitte Kowanz of

1564-605: The northern edge of the city centre and runs south east over the Donaustadtbrücke . Praterstern railway station provides direct links to Vienna International Airport in the south and Floridsdorf to the north east, and inner city stations Wien Mitte and Wien Hauptbahnhof . The station sits amid a large roundabout, which connects to the A22 Donauufer Autobahn over the Reichsbrücke . Multiple tram lines service

1610-562: The old residential areas have been gentrified , resulting in a gentle shift from Leopoldstadt's traditional, predominantly working class roots towards a somewhat wealthier population. The U1 metro line runs east to west through central Leopoldstadt, with stops at Nestroyplatz and Praterstern and Vorgartenstrasse . The U2 metro line, opened in May 2008 in time for the European Football Championship , links Leopoldstadt with

1656-742: The political debate about Zionism at that time. By 1913, when it moved into the Talmud-Thora-School in Leopoldstadt with 3,400 objects, it had already moved premises several times. Immediately after the Anschluss by Nazi Germany in 1938 the museum was closed, and its contents were distributed among the Museum of Ethnology ( Museum für Völkerkunde ), the Natural History Museum ( Naturhistorisches Museum Wien ) and other repositories. The Natural History Museum used its new acquisitions to mount

1702-402: The simplest of means. However, light is not only a material, but also often a topic of Kowanz's works. For example, she was engaged with the speed of light in a personal complex of works since 1989. A very small decimal number in neon figures indicates the time that the light needs to cover the length of this sequence of numbers. One complex issue that Kowanz was engaged in since the 1980s

1748-425: The third floor, is shown facing to the back of each display case, which is mirrored—the idea being that to look at the mirrored objects, the visitor must at the same time come face to face with their own reflection. Since its re-opening, the museum has attracted record number of visitors, both to its regular exhibitions and to its evening program of events featuring visiting artists and film projections. Specifically,

1794-460: The time, the Jews of Vienna were scattered throughout the city, not having a central community. Heller obtained for the Jews the right to establish a central Jewish community in Leopoldstadt, which was already then a suburb of Vienna. He was instrumental in reorganizing the community, and he drew up its constitution. By the mid-17th century, part of the built-up area was the Jewish ghetto . At that time

1840-953: The unveiling of the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial to the Austrian Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. The annex of the Jewish Museum Vienna documenting the social, cultural and religious lives of Viennese Jews in the Middle Ages is housed in the Misrachi House, on the Judenplatz , the heartland of the city's medieval Jewish community. The exhibition space, opened on 25 October 2000, is smaller than Dorotheergasse, and thoroughly modern in construction, with ample light, polished concrete features and underground corridors that lead

1886-496: The visitor all the way down to 4.5 meters below street level, to the underlying foundations of the medieval synagogue. In recent years, the Judenplatz museum has hosted contemporary art exhibitions with a spiritual or specifically Jewish theme, such as installations by notable Austrian artist Zenita Komad and several photography exhibitions. Currently an exhibition celebrates the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein (until 28 April 2019). In November 2009, ORF journalist Danielle Spera

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1932-452: The word museum in Hebrew script. On the ground floor, the remodeling created a roomy and light foyer area and a spacious showroom hosting the "Vienna. Jewish Museum. 21st Century" permanent exhibition as well as the "Nancy Spero - Installation of Memory" murals. A big event space was created in the second floor and a small exhibition, "From Aleph to Tav - From the beginning to the end", showcases

1978-402: The word 'Jew', they say 'our Jewish fellow citizens'. I want to open the museum up so people get to know Judaism better," Spera said in an interview. To accommodate the new direction of the museum, Spera made the immediate renovation of the Dorotheergasse premises a priority, launching an intensive fundraising effort both from official sources in Austria and from the Jewish diaspora especially in

2024-607: Was an Austrian artist. Kowanz studied from 1975 to 1980 at the University of Applied Arts Vienna . She was Professor of Transmedial Art there from 1997. Since the 1980s, Brigitte Kowanz's work focused on the investigation of space and light. At the beginning of this period, between 1979 and 1984, she produced paper and screen images with phosphorescent and fluorescent pigments in collaboration with Franz Graf . From 1984, Kowanz developed her first light objects from bottles, fluorescent lamps and fluorescent paint. Complex spatial images and light-shadow-projections were created using

2070-642: Was never reopened. In 1986 the establishment of a new Jewish museum in Vienna was announced by the then mayor of Vienna, Helmut Zilk , in New York at the opening of the exhibition "Vienna 1900 - Art, Architecture and Design". On the foundation committee, among many others, were representatives of the Austrian state, the city of Vienna, the Jewish Community in Vienna, the Vienna Philharmonic , Leonard Bernstein and Helmut Zilk. After its foundation in 1988 as

2116-644: Was selected to take over the management of the museum as of July 2010. In interviews around the time of her appointment, the new director of the museum said she aimed to "open up" the museum to the public, to create a space where fears and prejudices were dispelled and non-Jews could experience both the traumatic past and the vibrant present of the Austrian Jewish community. Specific goals also included reaching out to young people with targeted projects for schools, and to tourists. "Much has normalised. But there are still many people who have difficulty with it, uttering

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