Germania Judaica IV - Austria Judaica

Germania Judaica was initiated by the "Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaft des Judentums" (Society for the Promotion of Scientific Research on Jewry). The first volume, the contents of which reaches until 1238, was published in two parts in 1917 and 1934. The completed manuscripts for the second volume (until 1350) were confiscated by the Nationalsocialists in 1938. The work could not be resumed by the former researchers who had emigrated to Israel in the meantime until in 1955. Due to close co-operation with central European historians and archives volumes two and three were completed comprising the period between 1238 and 1519. Since 1990 efforts have been made to continue the Germania Judaica for early modern history. The relative independence and individual preparation of the material with a reference to Austria as Austria Judaica is due to the reorganisation of the Germania Judaica IV, i. e. the aim is no longer to write articles on individual towns, but articles on individual territories. The Austria Judaica will therefore be a single publication forming part of the overall project of the Germania Judaica IV. The project Austria Judaica starts where Germania Judaica III had ended, namely in 1520. Although Germania Judaica IV will end with the year 1650, with the results of the Treaty of Westphalia, the Austria Judaica will continue until 1670, the year in which the Jews were expelled from Vienna and Lower Austria. The period dealt with is marked by a close connection between the Austrian hereditary lands and the Bohemian crown; therefore a cross-border research which will have to be considered. According. to the present state of research it can be assumed that outside today`s borders of Vienna, Lower and Upper Austria and Burgenland only few new results may be expected for the area of Western and Southern Austria, but a vast variety of economic, family, social and legal relations into the Eastern European territory. The aim of the project is a complete collection of sources. which form the basis for a detailed study about the history of the Jews in Austria in early modern history.

The aim of Germania Judaica IV - Austria Judaica is to provide a complete picture of Jewish existence in the 16th and 17th centuries not only in Austria but also in all of Central Europe. This involves close cooperation with partners in Germany and neighbouring countries to the east, i.e. the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Cooperation Germania Judaica, a project to study Jewish settlements in the Holy Roman Empire from its beginnings until modern times, was launched in 1903 by the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaft des Judentums. Three volumes covering the period until 1519 have appeared to date. In 1998, work started simultaneously in Austria (Austria Judaica), the Czech Republic (Bohemia, Moravia et Silesia Judaica), and Germany and Israel (Germania Judaica) on volume IV, which deals with the period from 1520 to 1650 (Germany) and 1670 (Austria/Bohemia- Moravia). In 2001, a cooperative project with Hungary and the Slovak Republic entitled Hungaria et Slovakia Judaica (1520-1686) was initiated. The initiative by the Institute for the History of the Jews in Austria to extend the research to the neighbouring countries to the east of Austria not only ensures that numerous relevant sources can be included in the project but also that the actual focus of Jewish life in the 16th and 17th centuries-Bohemia and Poland-can be given the attention it deserves. Prague, the "Jerusalem" of the time, is now not just a recurring name but a specific research focus. Through cooperation with the Jewish Museum in Prague it will be possible to assess the real importance of this Jewish metropolis and to study the networks created by individual Jews and communities of the time. Austria Judaica is therefore a core project for Central Europe and provides a starting point for further cooperative projects, in which not only individual researchers but also institutions will be involved. These cooperative projects also call for the presentation of papers and for public relations work. Results The research work to date has produced a vast amount of material and new information about Jewish history in Central Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. A great deal of new data on a variety of topics relating specifically to Austria has been obtained, indicating that Jewish life was much richer and more varied than had been described in the literature hitherto. One of the most important achievements of the last few years has been the development of a level of cooperation that a project of these dimensions requires. Without information on the different topics and aspects from researchers in the various sub-fields, a complete picture of Jewish existence in the 16th and 17th centuries would not be possible.