Vienna - A Short Stopover from Israel - Part 2

 

Before WWII, Jews played an important part in Austrian economic and cultural life. In 1938, there were close to 200,000 Jews in Austria, about 4% of the Austrian population, the majority living in Vienna and very close to where we were staying. They were just under 10% of the city's population. Just one year later, their numbers had fallen to 57,000, primarily due to emigration. 

The Germans entered on March 12, 1938 and were welcomed by the vast majority of Austrians, 99% of whom voted for the union with Germany, in a vote where Jews and Gypsies were not allowed to cast their ballot. Mauthausen became the main concentration camp in Austria, from where Jews were deported to the death camps in Germany. By the end of 1942, 7000 Jews remained in Austria, many married to non-Jews. The Austrians and Germans used their sense of organization and precision to systematically erase Jews from Austria, where they had once occupied positions of leadership in culture and the arts.

So as we were marvelling at the beauty of this beautiful city, we could not erase our thoughts for how amazing and alive it once was for the Jewish community and we somehow looked at elderly Viennese citizens that we passed in the street, elegantly and immaculately dressed, and made the subconscious calculation of just how old they might have been in the WWII years and whether they were involved. 

It was here that the pogrom of Kristallnacht occurred on November 9-10, 1938, where all synagogues (over 90) and prayer houses (except for one, the Stadttempel - The City Temple) in Vienna were burned; Jewish shops plundered and 6000 Jews arrested and deported to their deaths in Dachau in the following days. 

And while we loved the city and its beauty, our enjoyment was dampened by the knowledge of exactly what happened here just a short time ago. 

Today, there are about 10000 Jews in Vienna and the 2nd district of Leopoldstadt continues to be the centre of Jewish life. There are functioning synagogues and educational institutions as well as kosher restaurants and shops. 

As we were walking about in the centre of the city, within the Ringstrasse, we came upon memorials to the Jews and Jewish life that had almost been extinguished. 

As we were walking past the State Opera House we saw the Monument against War and Fascism. This was erected in 1988 in the Albertinaplatz and is supposed to commemorate the Austrians who were murdered in Mauthausen. 

However this monument came under great public criticism for a number of reasons. From the general Austrian population, they preferred not to be reminded of their complicity in the Nazi destruction of the Jewish community. Others felt that the location right beside the State Opera was not appropriate; after all, Austrians were models of culture, and their musical heritage might be insulted by such grim reminders. 

But perhaps most important, the Jewish community was offended that there was no mention of Jews; merely "all victims of war". And so, Simon Wiesenthal who lived in Vienna, campaigned for a separate Holocaust memorial which was eventually erected in the Judenplatz in 2000. 

We continued touring the centre of the city and came to the very famous Cafe Sacher, home of one of the most famous Viennese culinary desserts, Sachertorte, invented by Franz Sacher in 1832, whose recipe remains a closely guarded secret till today. Too bad it is not kosher, but it was still good to include the place in our itinerary.  

We passed by an open air market as we made our way thru the city and marvelled at how neat and clean all the fruits were, perfectly organized on their stands. Great place for a healthy snack. 

We now headed back thru the city in the northerly direction so that we could get lunch in one of the restaurants in the second district of Leopoldstadt and passed architecturally beautiful sites, including a statue of one of the most recognized names in Vienna, Mozart, born in Salzburg in 1756 and died in Vienna in 1791. 

The area in Leopoldstadt where the kosher restaurants were located was easily recognizable as a Jewish area from the chassidic garb of the locals. Many of the younger members made their way around the area on bike or scooter. 

After a light lunch, we made our way back to the area near the Opera House for our scheduled tour. The Opera House which seats 1700 people was completed in 1869 and was the first major building on the Ringstrasse. There are tours throughout the day and it is a very busy place indeed. All the while, workmen are setting the stage for that evening's performance. You literally have to look in all directions as you walk on the tour, as the ceilings, walls, stairways and floor are all ornately decorated. Really a work of art. Definitely worth the visit. 

After a wonderful Opera House Tour, we made our way to the Stadttempel, the only shul to survive Kristallnacht. The only reason it survived, was that it was situated in the middle of an apartment block and destroying it would have likely caused the destruction of most of the city centre. The entire area is closed off to traffic with armed security at each end of the street, so as to guarantee quiet in the city. This is a city that is built for tourism, the last thing they need is an incident which would cause people to travel elsewhere. We joined a minyan for mincha and then ended our day with a wonderful meal at the restaurant next door Alef Alef. 

The end of an amazing day. Next, our trip out to Schonbrunn Palace, our visit to the Jewish Museum and the area around Judenplatz. 

Vienna - A short visit from Israel

Trip to Vienna began with arrival at Ben Gurion at 5 AM only to discover that our flight was delayed till about 2 PM with arrival in Vienna at about 6 PM....we accepted a re-route via Zurich on El Al and Swiss which got us here at 2 PM... 

Because we are staying in the centre of town, we decided to take public transit everywhere. The Vienna Airport has a transit stop in the airport and so we took the very short and east train into the centre of the city. The City Airport Train takes just 16 minutes to deposit you in the centre of town and from there it was a short ten minute walk (though lugging some wheeled suitcases was a bit difficult) to the apartment we had rented.

The apartment was in a very old building as most buildings in the centre off Vienna and had been recently renovated. We met the owner at the apartment and he was very attentive to ensure that we had everything we needed. 

After we unpacked, we walked for a few hours around the Inner City. 

Our first impression is a very architecturally beautiful and spotlessly clean city; the buildings have a lot of character, with many flourishes in design. But since it was Sunday, almost everything was closed and shuttered. 

We went to a very nice milchig place (Novolino's) for an early dinner and it was right in the middle of a very chassidishe neighbourhood. The food was great! We then walked to where the Great Synagogue is and they also have a very nice meat restaurant there which we will try tomorrow. We walked to the Holocaust Memorial and then we went to mincha and maariv in the Great Synagogue's small beis hamidrash. They had about 15 people there. 

We are having an early night here and will start early tomorrow to try and cover as many of the sights as we can by the time we leave here on Thursday AM. 

So tomorrow, we will really see what the city is like. 

There is defintely a very visible ultra orthodox Jewish community here....with a number of yeshivas, people with chassidic garb and women dressed the same as they would in Williamsburg or in Meah Shearim.

What was very interesting is that before coming here, a cousin who was born and grew up in Vienna, called me and asked me if I would be wearing a kippah or a baseball hat while touring Vienna. I told him that as was my custom, I would be wearing a kippah. He warned me that it was "dangerous" and that I should not be so foolish.

My response, in typical Jewish fashion, was another question: "Are there Chassidim in Vienna?". He said "of course, many". I asked "what do they look like"? He said "like typical Chassidim!". I figured that if they could walk around being totally visible as Jews and as chareidi Jews and be safe, I would also be safe with a relatively unobtrusive black kippah. 

On Monday morning, we left on a full day walking tour/tram tour of the centre of Vienna. Vienna consists of 23 districts, each with its own distinctive character and flavour. The 1st district (Innerstadt) is the very centre of town, very pricey and home to many of Vienna;'s historical attractions. 

The 2nd district is Leopoldstadt and is home to the greatest concentration of shuls, kosher restaurants and Jewish population. 

In the centre of the 1st district is the giant Ringstrasse, which encircles most of the old town, home to numerous monumental buildings, built in the 1860s to 1890s. You can walk it or take the sightseeing tram. 

Notable highlights include the Kunsthistorisches Museum, (one of the world’s greatest museums of art history, packed with various treasures from centuries of Imperial acquisitions; the State Opera House, is one of the world’s leading opera venues and a splendid building in its own right; the Stadtpark, a lovely park with its own Otto Wagner-designed station and the famous golden Strauss statue; the Man, museum of design and contemporary art, with wonderful temporary exhibitions, too; the Rathaus, the town hall, with the square in front a common venue for major events like the film festival; Austria’s national parliament building; the Museumsquartier, modern art quarter with various museums and cultural spaces, including the Leopold Museum and Museum of Modern Art; and the old city walls; what’s left of the great fortifications that protected Vienna in centuries past. 

We decided to begin with a tourist tram ride around the Ringstrasse, which was an excellent idea, because we had no idea at all just how long this circular street was. It measures 5.3 kilometres and so you can literally be exhausted if you decide to walk it all yourself. The tram gave us a great overview of some of these historic buildings. 

If you are lucky enough, you might be able to catch a live concert in the huge squares that dot the downtown central area. What we have below is a photo, not something that we saw live. 

After buying advanced tickets for the Opera House Tour for the afternoon, we toured the Kunsthistorisches Museum and admired not only its amazing collection of art by many of the masters, but as well, the wonderful architecture inside and outside the buildings along the Ringstrasse. 

And while this was truly the most amazing place that we had yet visited in terms of its architecture and preserved riches and while we had to admire the precision in organization and the layout of the city and the pristine condition in which it was kept, we could not help reflecting on the fact that this was the birthplace of Hitler (yemach shemo) and that the vast majority of Austrian citizens supported and endorsed the Nazi occupation of Austria and its systematic annihilation of Austria's Jewish community. Yes this was a precise and organized people, a cultured and aristocratic nation; and yet that sense of precision and organization was what they used to barbarically destroy many of our people. 

More in the next post.....