Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna

I've spent about 2 hours here looking at a permanent exhibit and a temporary exhibit. Now I'm taking a break for lunch at the restaurant, sitting on the sidewalk. And I'll go back inside to go to the second floor for another permanent exhibit. Highly recommended. Especially on Mondays when so many other museums are closed.

Excellent curation, well-organized and displayed exhibits. I often find museums difficult to access and learn from, but this museum was quite accessible and informative. Particularly liked the special temporary exhibit and the top floor.

The exhibition about the 3rd generation is very interesting. For me, it was a new look to the topic, in a way that I have never thought about it before. The children of the Holocaust survivors dealt first hand with the psychological effects, but the grandkids of the survivors have a different view and experience to it. Very interesting approach and the visit is highly recommended

A very complete experience, immersed in the whole history of the Jewish people in Vienna. The museum collection is amazing, very clean, staff is super nice. Try out the cafe downstairs - it’s so good! 😍 they do have Israeli lunch specials for <10€

The main Jewish museum of Vienna, located in the 1st district. The building architecture wise is really well done. The restaurant serves very tasty kosher food and there is a little museum shop. The exhibitions are expanded in three floors. I saw the exhibition related with the communism which was quite interesting. The rest I didn’t like so much compared to other Jewish museums I have visited. Ticket is 12€ including the visit to the synagogue and to the Jewish institute.

Really interesting museum about the history of Jews in Vienna and Austria. It covers in depth the early medieval history as well as after the Holocaust. It is touching how open they are about Austria’s own complicity. They have great materials about 19th century Jewry in Austria too.

Beautifully interesting museum! A lot of information about vienna’s jew culture since ww2 with modern exhibitions from our time also. It’s a small museum but with the ticket you can also visit the holocaust museum in Judenplatz.

It's a must see museum. Nothing prepared us for the enormous quantity of Judaica Objects. Most of them were taken from Jewish synagogues all over Austria during the Holocaust. Here on display were the items that weren't melted. I liked the Antique Menorah, the giant Mezuzah and the Hebrew clock. It's a museum you must visit.

I visited Vienna for the first time a few weeks ago, and I knew I wanted to visit the city's Jewish Museum during my stay. What you need to know: The museum is actually two museums - one on Dorotheergasse and one at Judenplatz. The Judenplatz museum explores the history of Vienna's medieval Jewish community and its annihilation and expulsion in 1420/21. It also houses the remains of the destroyed medieval synagogue in its basement. The Dorotheergasse museum explores the history of Vienna after the medieval period (16th-20th century). The purchase of tickets includes admission to both museums. If you can't visit both locations in one day, your ticket is valid for 7 days after purchase, but the museums are just a short walk apart from each other. The museum has a fascinating history, too. It was founded in 1893 and opened in 1895, making it - according to the museum - the world's oldest Jewish museum. It moved several times, but in 1938 after the Anschulss, the museum was closed and some of its contents used in an anti-Semitic exhibit put on by the Natural History Museum. A new Jewish museum was established in 1986. The museums are both incredible. I learned a lot. The permanent exhibits on Vienna's Jewish history are impressive - comprehensive and meticulously curated. The Dorotheergasse museum's permanent collection includes Judaica that was looted, damaged, destroyed, or removed violently from their original locations during the November Pogroms of 1938, which was hard to stomach, but I'm very glad I saw. The synagogue ruins in the basement of Judenplatz museum was also something incredible to see in person. It would easily be worth it to visit the museums based on the permanent collection alone, but there was also incredible temporary exhibits in both museums. These museums were one of the highlights of my time in Vienna, and I'm so glad I made sure to include time in our itinerary to visit both. Vienna has so much to offer, but these museums educate visitors about some of Vienna's less beautiful history, and that's worth exploring as a tourist, too. I highly recommend a visit to both if you have time during your trip to Vienna.

A few negative comments regarding Jüdisches Museum Wien is that there's not much singular focus on the Holocaust. But as I walked the multiple floors of this museum, I appreciated this museum's historical approach to the Austrian Jewish Community within a particularly antisemitic national culture that included lots of twists, turns, immigrant growth, and international tragedy. I thought of it more as a bottoms-up approach, rather than a "hit you over the head" tops down strategy. As such, I spent a fair amount of time here, and more than I sometimes do in any Jewish museum institution. And yet (and I couldn't put my finger on it) there was a feeling of something missing after I left. Maybe visiting their 2nd Museum on Judenplatz might have helped. That facility hosts a small special exhibition and the permanent Our Medieval City! exhibition, which includes the remains of a medieval synagogue. Or maybe that since it was between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, I was looking for something to fill in some blanks in real time. Anyway, if you're in Vienna, you should come. And because we're Jewish, we can all be a critic, while immersing ourselves in this unique historical experience.

Traveling with some friends who visit Jewish museums wherever they exist, a stop at Vienna's was foreseen. Though I don't have quite the commitment of these travel partners, I've been to several Jewish museums throughout the world and always found them to be quite excellent. The Jewish Museum of Vienna broke that track record. The two friends who travel widely and have great interest in Jewish museums declared this one "the worst I've ever been in". I conceded; in no way did it live up to my previous Jewish museum visits. The fourth in my group enjoyed it amply enough and didn't throw down any negative comparisons. For better or worse, this museum focuses not on the Holocaust but on a tangle of assorted things, almost all of which failed to capture my interest which waned after about 30 minutes. Vienna is chock-full of museums; not all of them can be winners.

What a great experience overall. The layout at first was a bit odd, in the sense that you had 20th century history on the ground floor, then a modern exhibition about upending stereotypes above that, then earlier history on the floor above that. I didn't like the first experience - getting tickets! The foyer was stiflingly hot and muggy, even though it wasn't hot outside at all (too cold outside, too hot inside - this became a recurring theme in Vienna). The ticket booth's computers must've had massive technical difficulties. Our line of 2ish people in front of us took about 15-20 minutes, and no explanations, updates, etc. were given. The 20th century section was solid - it could have been fleshed out more, detail wise (just a bit), but it was still compelling and important to experience. The second (first in Europe though!) floor was about turning Jewish stereotypes on their head and showing that they are misconceptions. To that end, its 100 misconceptions are each shown in ways that range from lighthearted to almost-but-not-quite-offensive, and everything in between. The exhibit shows items that, without context, would seem at times crass or stereotypical, but the effort here is to subvert such harmful cliches. For instance, one misconception (materialism being common) is lampooned via a Chanel handbag retrofitted to look like a menorah. It is very clever and makes you think. So too did the art piece meant to look like a bearskin rug made of Hitler's body! This section is likely not for children or people who take everything at face value without reading captions; it requires the audience to read about each piece's nuances. The third floor was detailed and described pre-20th century Jewish life in Austria, showcasing life from a variety of eras, social classes, religious observance levels, and such. The use of artifacts helped break up the blurbs (which I liked reading!) and give visual references to everything. The cafe seems quite popular, and the museum overall was. It is great to see a Jewish museum attracting such interest and enthusiasm 2-3 generations after Jewish life was, in most cases, extinguished in the very same spot.

Maybe this is my fault for not doing more research about what this museum was about, but it is a general history of Jewish people in Vienna. It barely talked about the history and stories of Jewish people in Vienna during wwii (which is kind of what I was expecting). I learned a little and maybe it would be more interesting if I had a connection to Vienna or the Jewish faith, but it was kind of just a lot of random information about classic Jewish families in Vienna. I paid 8€ for entrance because I had the student discount. It wasn't worth it in my opinion, but that's just me.

I travelled to Vienna and can say to anyone visiting this beautiful city: go to the Jewish Museum. I was blown away. The director, Danielle Spera is one of the most charismatic women I have met - and she puts so much work and dedication into this museum which I noticed immediately. Do yourself a favor and experience excellent exhibitions with compelling stories. 1000/10 recommend!!!!

I visited the exhibition "Stars if David". It's up on the second floor and you cannot buy a ticket for just that show - that is only smart business wise. The show tells the story of Jewish artists (primarily musicians) who left Europe to the US. It provides a good and intense overview of the talent that fled and later helped to build the strongest cultural revolution. There are a lot of video installations ... for 2 people to listen to. The WIFI guide did not work - too many visitors? Great overview.

Really interesting and not at all what we expected. Nice that it concentrates on Jewish cultural contribution to Vienna life and worldwide today, while acknowledging the Shoah. Very good.

A museum which features information about Vienna's jewish quarter and the holocaust. Whether you are a student learning about Vienna, a person interested in Jewish history, or something or other....you might enjoy a visit to this museum. Cheers!