In March 2021 the Jewish Museum Vienna will be opening its new permanent exhibition at Museum
Judenplatz. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication devoted to a chapter in
Viennese history that has not had the attention it deserves. Medieval Vienna was home to one of
the most important Jewish communities in Europe. Jews settled in the area of the present-day
Judenplatz in the early thirteenth century and lived alongside and in close interaction with
the Christian population for two hundred years until they were robbed expelled and murdered
by order of Duke Albert V in 1420 21. In ten essays and numerous illustrations this book gives
an overview not only of the first Jewish community in Vienna but also of the checkered history
of Judenplatz. The focus on medieval Jewish Vienna hones perspectives on modern-day social
interrelationships.
