Zone: Innerstadt

Author:

Historic documents tell us that Jews lived in this part of the country in the 10th century and Vienna had a Jewish community from the 12th. In the 13th century Jews living in the capital were granted many privileges under the last ruler of the Babenberg dynasty, including the right to lend money and provide credit. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that this was a bustling trading district and even today we can see the houses with their little windows that had shops and stalls selling goods and lending money. But the district also tells us something about how the citizens of the wider city felt about the Jews: look at the heavy metal bars and bolts and heavy protective shutters on the windows.