The history of the Jews in Austria starts after the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and fell many times: during certain periods, the Jewish community prospered and enjoyed political equality, and during other periods it suffered pogroms, deportations to concentration camps and mass murder, and further antisemitism.
The Holocaust drastically reduced the Jewish community in Austria and only 8,140 Jews remained in Austria according to the 2001 census. As of 2020, Austria had a Jewish population of 10,300 and a total of 33,000 when including any Austrian with at least one Jewish grandparent.
Antiquity Jews have been in Austria since at least the 3rd century CE. In 2008, a team of archeologists discovered a third-century CE amulet in the form of a gold scroll with the words of the Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael inscribed on it in the grave of a Jewish infant in Halbturn. It is considered to be the earliest surviving evidence of a Jewish presence in modern-day Austria.Archaeological sensation in Austria. Scientists from the University of Vienna unearth the earliest evidence of Jewish inhabitants in Austria, 13.03.08,
It is thought the first Jews immigrated to Austria following the Roman legions after the Roman occupation of Israel. Roman legions who participated in the occupation and came back after the First Jewish–Roman War are said to have brought back Jewish prisoners.
The Middle Ages
A document from the 10th century that determined equal rights between the Jewish and Christian merchants along the Danube implies a Jewish population in Vienna at this point, though again, there is no concrete proof.
Jews first settled in Vienna in the late 12th century. Shlom, a mint master for Duke Leopold V , is the first documented settler Jew in Vienna. He gave coins for silver production, owned land and a vineyard in and around Vienna, and built a synagogue (in today’s Seitenstettengasse 2). He was murdered along with 15 members of his household by Crusaders travelling through Vienna in 1196. In the same century, the Jewish settlement in Vienna increased with the absorption of Jewish settlers from Bavaria and from the Rhineland.
At the start of the 13th century, the Jewish community began to flourish. One of the main reasons for the prosperity was the declaration by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.The declaration by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II held that the Jews were a separate ethnic and religious group and were not bound to the laws targeting the Christian population. This charter was issued to encourage Austrian Jews to lend money and likely also to attract affluent Jews to Austria, which was in need of credit at the time. Issued in July 1244 by Duke Frederick II of Babenberg, the Fridericianum granted Austria's Jewish population legal equality with the Christian populace, trade rights, and judicial autonomy. The "Fridericianum," regarded by the historian J.E. Scherer as a "sparkling star in a dark night," served as the model for privileges granted to Jews across central Europe, including Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia., which had high concentrations of Jews.The charter remained in effect across Austria proper until the expulsion of the Jews in 1420.
In 1204, the first documented synagogue in Austria was constructed. In addition, Jews went through a period of religious freedom and relative prosperity; a group of families headed by notable rabbis settled in Vienna—these learned men were later referred to as "the wise men of Vienna". The group established a beit midrash that was considered to be the most prominent school of Talmudic studies in Europe at the time.
The insularity and assumed prosperity of the Jewish community caused increased tensions and jealousy from the Christian population along with hostility from the Catholic Church. In 1282, when the area became controlled by the Catholic House of Habsburg, Austrian prominence decreased as far as being a religious center for Jewish scholarly endeavors due to the highly antisemitic atmosphere.
Due to being barred from owning real estate, farming, and practicing most trades and crafts, Jewish communities in Austria engaged mainly in commerce, particularly money lending. Some Jewish business enterprises focused on civic finance, private interest-free loans, and government accounting work enforcing tax collection and handling moneylending for Christian landowners.
The earliest evidence of Jewish officials tasked with the unpleasant role of collecting unpaid taxes appears in a document from 1320. During the same time, riots occurred scapegoating all Jews who resided in the area. The entire Jewish population was unfairly targeted by some angry non-Jewish neighbors and the animosity made daily life unbearable—the population continued to decline in the middle of the 14th century.
Duke Albert V's negative view of the Jews, combined with his pressing need for money, led to the Jewish persecutions of 1420–1421, which began with the Wiener Gesera (the Vienna Decree) on May 23, 1420. The wealthy Jews were tortured to extract their money, while the poor were expelled from Austria. Forced baptism was also imposed.
Deportation from Austria In the middle of the 15th century, following the establishment of the anti-Catholic movement of Jan Hus in Bohemia, the condition of Jews worsened as a result of unfounded accusations that the movement was associated with the Jewish community.
In 1420, the status of the Jewish community hit a low point when a Jewish man from Upper Austria was falsely accused and charged with the crime of desecration of the sacramental bread.
During the Hussite Wars, Jews were suspected of collaborating with the Hussites, leading to Albert II to expel Austrian Jews and confiscate their property in what as known as the Vienna Gesera; Viennese Jews were murdered and expelled, and in some cases committed collective suicide. In March 1421 stake burnings took place as well.
In 1469, the deportation order was cancelled by Frederick III, who became known for his fairness and strong relationship by allowing Jews to live relatively free from scapegoating and hate crimes—he was even referred to at times as the "King of the Jews". He allowed Jews to return and settle in all the cities of Styria and Carinthia. Under his regime, Jews gained a short period of peace (1440-1493).
In 1496, Maximilian I ordered a decree which expelled all Jews from Styria. In 1509, he passed the "Imperial Confiscation Mandate", which foresaw the destruction of all Jewish books, apart from one exception, the Bible.
The rise of religious fanaticism of the Society of Jesus
The period of relative peace did not last long. Ferdinand I, whose regime began in 1556, opposed the persecution of the Jews, but levied excessive taxes .In 1551, he ordered Jews to wear a mark of disgrace.
Between 1564 and 1619, during the reigns of Maximilian II, Rudolf II and Matthias, the fanaticism of the Jesuits prevailed and the condition of the Jews worsened even more. Jesuits influenced the government to impose a high tax on the Jewish population.
Later, Ferdinand II theoretically opposed the persecution of the Jews, as had his grandfather, and even permitted the construction of a synagogue. Nevertheless, huge taxes were imposed upon the Jewish population.He is the first emperor to employ court Jews, Jewish moneylenders who lent to or managed money for the upper classes. Ferdinand also ignored petitions from the Vienna City Council to expel the Jews.
The nadir of the Jewish community in Austria arrived during the reign of Leopold I, a period in which Jews were persecuted frequently and deported from many areas, including Vienna in 1670, though they gradually returned after several years.
Jews were also subject to different laws—one of which permitted only first-born children to marry—in order to stop the increase of the Jewish population. Although Leopold treated the Jewish population severely, he did have a Jewish economic advisor, Samson Wertheimer.
A Sabbatean movement, which was established in the same period, also reached the Jewish community in Austria, largely due to the difficult condition of the Jews there. Many followed in the footsteps of Sabbatai Zevi by immigrating to the land of Israel.
Modern period
+ Jewish population of Viennacensus 1890, 1900, 1910 of the K. K. Statistischen Central-Kommission and census 1934 and Statistisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Wien für das Jahr 1910, in: Anson Rabinbach: The Migration of Galician Jews to Vienna. Austrian History Yearbook, Volume XI, Berghahn Books/Rice University Press, Houston 1975, S. 48Statistisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Wien 1930–1935 (Neue Folge. 3. Band) published by Magistratsabteilung für Statistik. Contains figures of 1910, 1923 und 1934.Österreichische Historikerkommission: Schlussbericht der Historikerkommission der Republik Österreich. Band 1. Oldenbourg Verlag, Wien 2003, S. 85–87 (Ergebnis der Volkszählung 1934)Statistik Austria: Bevölkerung nach dem Religionsbekenntnis und Bundesländern 1951 bis 2001 (accessed 15 January 2009)according to census and particular area Year Total pop. Jews % 1857 476,220 2,617 1.3 1869 607,510 40,277 6.6 1880 726,105 73,222 10.1 1890 817,300 99,444 12.1 1890* 1,341,190 118,495 8.8 1900 1,674,957 146,926 8.7 1910 2,031,420 175,294 8.6 1923 1,865,780 201,513 10.8 1934 1,935,881 176,034 9.1 1951 1,616,125 9,000 0.6 1961 1,627,566 8,354 0.5 1971 1,619,855 7,747 0.5 1981 1,531,346 6,527 0.4 1991 1,539,848 6,554 0.4 2001 1,550,123 6,988 0.5 *after expansion of Vienna
Change in the attitude towards the Jews
After the period of religious fanaticism towards the Jewish population of the region, a period of relative tolerance began which was less noticeable during the reign of Maria Theresa of Austria. It reached its peak during the reign of Franz Joseph I of Austria, who was very popular among the Jewish population.
Upon the partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, or simply "Galicia", became the largest, most populous, and northernmost province of the Habsburg Empire.At the time, the region's Jewish population numbered 224,980 (9.6% of the total).
As a result of annexation, many Jews were added to the Austrian Empire and empress Maria Theresa quickly passed different laws aimed at regulating their rights and canceled Jewish autonomy to take auth
Although the empress was known for her hatred of Jews, several Jews did work for her at her court. The empress made it mandatory that Jews would go to the general elementary schools, and in addition, permitted them to join universities. Jewish schools did not exist yet during that time.After Maria Theresa's death in 1780, her son Joseph II succeeded her and started working on the integration of Jews into Austrian society. The emperor determined that they would be obligated to enlist in the army, and established governmental schools for Jews.
The 1782 Edict of Tolerance canceled different limitations that had been placed upon Jews previously, such as the restriction to live only in predetermined locations and the limitation to certain professions.
They were now allowed to establish factories, hire Christian servants and study at higher education institutions, but all this only on the condition that Jews would be obligated to attend school, that they would use German only in the official documents instead of Hebrew or Yiddish, that dorsal tax would be forbidden, that the trials held within the community would be condensed, and that those who would not get an education would not be able to marry before the age of 25.