Jewish Heritage in Vienna´s Architecture

This studys intention is to give a survey of the role, which Jewish architects and ma- ster builders both male and female played in Vienna during the period between 1867/68, when in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy Jews were granted complete equal status in their civil rights, and 1938, when the Nazis seized power in Austria. Following a chronological order, individual personalities are portrayed, looking at their professional position, importance and personal fate, setting out with forerunners like Wilhelm Fraenkel and Josef Unger, who are almost forgotten to-day, but neverthe- less in their time were pioneer figures. To carry on, a focus is laid on the gradual de- velopment of specific groups of architects, where special attention is given to the nu- merous hosts of Karl Königs students, and the circle around Josef Frank. Specific types of buildings, e. g. synagogues, banking and office buildings, are given a special emphasis, but also significant urbanite projects, such as the Wiener Werkbundsiedlung, as well as the social housing programme of the Rotes Wien, in which Jewish architects not to forget the women among them took a conspicuous share. A peculiar position was taken by the group of female architects Ella Briggs and Friedl Dicker, in the first place -, who gradually rose to importance in the period be- tween WW 1 and 2. Due to the difficult economical conditions, they often had to re- strict themselves to interior design, but there they made a significant contribution to the high level of Wiener Wohnraumkultur. The final chapters are devoted to the biographies of those, who were forced to flee from Austria ore even were murdered. Moreover, attention is given to the anti-Jewish phenomena continuing after 1945, such as the destruction of buildings bearing Jewish connotations, and the obstacles Jewish architects encountered when returning to Austria and trying to re-establish themselves. As stated before, the study does not intend to present an encyclopaedia of Jewish ar- chitects and master builders active in Vienna, but rather wants to offer an outline along certain points of view in a perspective of cultural history.