Jewish Museum of Vienna

Description:

• This is the main museum tracing the history of Viennese Jewry. Don't confuse it with its annex at Judenplatz. This museum opened in 1993 in the former Eskeles Palace, once one of the most patrician of town houses in Vienna. Both temporary and permanent exhibitions are on view here. The permanent exhibitions trace the major role that Jews played in the history of Vienna until their expulsion or deaths in the Holocaust beginning in 1938. Displays note their valuable contributions in such fields as philosophy, music, medicine, and, of course, psychiatry. Sigmund Freud escaped the Holocaust by fleeing to London. Many objects were rescued from Vienna's private synagogues and prayer houses, which were concealed from the Nazis in 1938. Many other exhibits are from Vienna's old Jewish Museum, which closed that same year.

• © Frommer's 2012