Collections

The Jewish Museum Vienna houses various collections, which can be viewed differently in terms of their origins, the variety of objects and their provenance.
 

When the present museum was founded in 1988, the City of Vienna acquired the Max Berger Collection. At the same time, the establishment of its own collection, the Jewish Museum Vienna (JMW) Collection, began. The Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG) Collection has been on permanent loan since 1992. That same year, the museum received the Sussmann Collection on permanent loan from the Anni and Heinrich Sussmann Foundation. In 1993, Martin Schlaff donated his Antisemitica collection to the City of Vienna for the Jewish Museum. One year later, in 1994, the Stern Collection was purchased.

The Max Berger Collection and the Trude Berger Bequest

The Max Berger Collection and the Trude Berger Bequest

Max Berger dedicated his collection to the memory of his parents and siblings, who were murdered in the Auschwitz and Treblinka extermination camps. When the City of Vienna acquired the holdings for the Jewish Museum Vienna, which was re-established in 1986, the objects received a new public “home.” Max Berger’s widow Trude Berger died in 2010 and bequeathed additional objects from their apartment to the Jewish Museum Vienna.

The Jewish Museum Vienna Collection

Despite the short time of persistence, the holdings of the Jewish Museum Vienna collection are very diverse. The types of objects range from photos, personal documents, everyday items and paintings to classical Judaica.
The Jewish Museum Vienna Collection
The Jewish Community of Vienna Collection

The Jewish Community of Vienna Collection

By far the largest collection of the Jewish Museum Vienna is that of the Jewish Community of Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde), which permanently loaned its holdings to the museum in 1992. These include ritual objects from synagogues, objects from organizations of the Jewish communities and from private households, as well as those once belonging to the old Jewish Museum.

The Old Jewish Museum Collection

Founded on Rathausstrasse in Vienna’s first district in 1895, the Jewish Museum was the first of its kind in the world. Half of the original collection’s holdings have survived and can be shown to the public. Compiled by assimilated curators, the collection focused on Eastern Europe.
The Old Jewish Museum Collection
The Sussmann Collection

The Sussmann Collection

The Sussmann Collection is kept in the archive and comprises part of Heinrich Sussmann’s artistic estate. Heinrich, born in Ternopil, Ukraine in 1904, and his wife Anni survived their flight and the Auschwitz concentration camp. After returning to Vienna, Heinrich Sussmann worked again as a graphic designer and processed his experiences artistically.

The Schlaff Collection

Martin Schlaff's antisemitica collection was donated to the Jewish Museum Vienna in 1993 and has been exhibited quite effectively in the Visual Storage since 2011. The way the objects are presented compels visitors to reflect on perspectives and to face up to antisemitism.
The Schlaff Collection
The Stern Collection

The Stern Collection

Featuring a variety of everyday objects, the Eli Stern Collection offers an interesting insight into life before the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. On the other hand, objects related to Vienna, such as a portable typewriter called Erika, point to the history of migration in the 20th century.