The Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna celebrates the history, religion, and culture of Austria’s Jewish population. Its two museum locations, on Dorotheergasse and on Judenplatz, feature exhibits, events and lectures that document issues of Judaism. It is a place of encounter and dialogue, but also a memorial to the Jewish people who were driven away from their homeland, those who lost their lives to persecution, and those that chose to stay or settle in Vienna after 1945. In addition to the permanent exhibit, the Palais Eskeles on Dorotheergasse offers symposiums, panel discussions and concerts, as well as several temporary exhibitions throughout the year.
The Jewish Museum on Judenplatz contains an exhibit on life in the Jewish Ghetto during medieval times as well as the remains of the synagogue which was destroyed in 1420. It was opened in 2000, coinciding with the unveiling of the memorial to victims of the Shoah. This memorial, designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Rachel Whiteread, stands in the middle of Judenplatz and serves as a reminder of the 65,000 Austrian Jews exterminated during the Holocaust.
The Jewish Museum also contains two archives. The Shoah documentation archive can be accessed from computer terminals in the basement of the Museum on Judenplatz. This is a database containing the names of all the Austrian Jews who lost their lives during the Nazi regime, as well as background information on the Holocaust. It was set up by the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Science and Research, and is seen as a complement to Rachel Whiteread’s memorial. The archive at Palais Eskeles contains a variety of items which document Jewish life in Vienna: official, private, religious and political, as well as art works and photographs.
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