Vienna - Jews' Square

(Local Name: Judenplatz) The Judenplatz (Jews' Square) was the center of Vienna's Jewish Quarter from 1294 to 1421.

Here stood the rabbi's house, the hospital, school and synagogue, and here too Jewish traders, bankers and scholars went about their business until 1420 when the 800 inhabitants were driven away or murdered.

One of the most remarkable houses in the square is Haus "Zum grossen Jordan" (No. 2; 15th C.) which serves as a reminder of the 210 Jews who were burnt to death on the Gänseheide in 1421. A descendant of the original owner Jörg Jordan sold the house to the Jesuits, but it has been in private ownership since 1684. The building material from the synagogue which was demolished in 1421 was used to build the Old University. Towards the end of the 16th C. a Jewish community re-established itself in Vienna and was moved to Leopoldstadt by Ferdinand II.

Also of interest are the Lessing Memorial by Siegfried Charoux, which was reproduced by the artist in 1968 based on the melted-down original from 1935, the Tailors' Guild House (No. 8) and the Böhmische Kanzlei in Wipplinger Strasse whose rear facade bounds the Judenplatz on one side. From the west corner of the square Drahtgasse leads through to Am Hof.