Newspapers / The Charlotte Jewish News … / April 1, 2007, edition 1 / Page 17
Part of The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The Charlotte Jewish News - April 2007 - Page 17 The Jewish Traveler Vienna By Maxine Silverstein It had been many years since I had been to Austria, so I was very excited when I found out that my Prague trip this past summer would also include four nights in Vienna. In Vienna, you practically inhale nostalgia. Known for its waltzes and pastries, this city is very elegant and charming. Where else can you still buy postcards of Emperor Franz Joseph or books on the Hapsburg Empire of 100 years ago? But like other Jewish communities in Europe, 60 years after the fall of the Nazis, Vienna for some may no longer be a pop ular place for Jewish settlement. Some feel the Holocaust actual ly began in this capital. Here lived the art student Hitler, who became insane with the idea that he had to murder Jews; and this city, say some commentators, is “the cradle of modem political anti- Semitism.” Only within the last few years has Austria acknowl edged for the first time that Austrians were responsible for crimes against Jews. The country has passed legislation setting up a National Fund that provides token sums to Austrian Jews who suf fered as a result of Nazi mle. Vienna’s Jewish population consists mostly of Eastern European refugees from the Holocaust era and their children, returning expatriates who lived abroad during World War II and Iranian Jews seeking asylum. The Viennese Jewish population is also elderly: more than half the population is over 60 years old. The senior citizens are single, or if married, without extended fami lies. Today about 90 percent of the Austrian Jewish community lives in this capital city of 1.6 million, although small Jewish communi ties exist in Salzburg, Linz, Graz and Innsbruck. The Jewish sites are well worth visiting. Located in the city center, the Jewish Museum (Judenplatz Museum) and the Stadtempel Synagogue (Vienna Synagogue) can be visited with a single pur chased ticket. Security is incredi- Maxine Silverstein in the Stadtemple. ble, and you will need to bring your passport in order to enter these Jewish sites. Vienna was the site of the world’s first Jewish museum in 1897, and this current museum was opened in 1990. This museum, whose purpose is to act Gary Silverstein at the entrance to the Jewish Museum in Vienna. as a link between Jews and non- Jews, also serves as a window on the rich but lost world of Viennese Judaism. The ground floor houses two permanent exhibitions. The first displays Jewish objects of worship, while the second illus trates Vienna’s Jewish history. I found the most interesting exhibi tion to be on the fourth floor, where a room called the Schaudepot (depot expo) is given over to hundreds of religious objects recovered after the Holocaust. This floor resembles the back room of an antique shop. The library in this museum tops all of those in other Jewish muse ums throughout Europe. It pre serves 25,000 volumes in German, Hebrew, Yiddish and English. Also within the Judenplatz area is the Memorial to Austrian Holocaust Victims. Unveiled in 2000, the reinforced concrete cube resembles a library of 7,000 vol umes turned inside out. The doors are locked and the books face inward. The base of the memorial has the names of the places where 65,000 Austrian Jews were mur dered by the Nazis. Today Vienna has 15 syna gogues, but the only surviving synagogue from the pre-war era is the Vienna Synagogue (Stadtempel), which also houses the community Jewish offices. The synagogue was damaged dur ing the war and reopened in 1963 after extensive renovations. The synagogue has limited visit ing hours and very heavy security due to a 1982 ter rorist attack. The Stadtempel was designed like a small theater or Italian-style Baroque opera house. The spectacular round sanctuary has the look and feel of a Reform temple, but it is an Orthodox congre gation with a separate gallery for women. We found our tour to be very interesting, and we were so glad that we had visited this remarkable synagogue. Vienna also has several Jewish bakeries, a kosher restaurant and kosher super market. Most are located in the Judenplatz area. We found some very good restaurants and some fabulous bakeries for Viennese pastries. Huth, a con temporary restaurant near our hotel was excellent. We dined out side, which was a delightful treat. Plachutta, a traditional restaurant, was very formal and known for its boiled beef The beef was served like soup and was very interest ing. Don’t miss Julius Meinl, a fabulous gourmet grocery store located in the Stephansplatz, the main shopping area. I found the shopping to be expensive but found wonderful buys on Austrian shoes and traditional Austrian clothes. An added challenge to our trip was President and Mrs. Bush were staying at our hotel on our last night in Vienna. The security was mind-boggling! Only 50 lucky guests were allowed to stay, and we were two of them. We had to leave our hotel two hours early to pass through the added security in the area to get to the airport on time. I enjoyed my visit to Vienna. I found the city to be formal and very old world, but also quite charming. O New Charlotte Resident - Formerly of Boca Roton, FL Announces the opening of 704.752.6464 - All Breed - Professional - Dog QrooTOiDg len>ices Located in the McMullen Creek Shopping Canter 8318-705 Pinevilie Mathews Road behind Burlington Coot Foctory) “Chapel in the Oaks” I FUNERAL DIRECTORS 500 Providence Road Telephone 704-332-7133 CELEBRATING OUR 122nd ANNIVERSARY
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 1, 2007, edition 1
17
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75