Wien und die Juden

The quest for amusement: Jewish leisure activities in Vienna circa 1900

“…42 Nevertheless, his adoption of Christianity should not be interpreted as reflecting an ultimate estrangement from Judaism. Since he did not trade in his Judaism for Catholicism, the main Christian denomination in Austria, but turned to Protestantism, a step taken by many other Viennese Jews who were eager for social success and wanted to obviate possible barriers to professional advancement, 43 Steiner's conversion may be deemed a Jewish response to an antisemitic environment, a Jewish strategy to overcome Judeophobic circumstances.…”

“…Their strong inclination towards the academic professions made the Jews' attendance at performances at the Burgtheater appear an offshoot of their broader bourgeois Bildungsstreben. 3 However, the familiar image of Jews flocking to the Burgtheater or museums and attending operetta or opera performances and non-Jews frequenting wine-gardens is inaccurate. It indicates a trend, but is often exaggerated 4 and therefore interferes with a comprehensive picture of Viennese Jewry.…”

A flight to Rome: Ernst Rabel's intellectual itinerary

“…Und gegen die große, kalt-rationalistische, gestaltlose Welt der von den Juden getragenen Moderne sollten die altertümelnden Häuser der Nationalgemeinschaften Geborgenheit bieten 17 . Ein weiterer Grund war natürlich der traditionelle europäische Antisemitismus, wie er vor allem im religiös motivierten Antisemitismus der christlich-sozialen Bewegung weiterlebte 18 hoffen, trifft das zumindest für Rabel nicht zu. Der große weite Schwung seines Werkes hat sehr wohl mit dem Dilemma der Juden in der Habsburgermonarchie zu tun und stellt -so unsere These -einen Versuch dar, dieses Dilemma zu überwinden.…”