The Jewish Museum Hohenems (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Jüdisches Museum Hohenems'', abbreviation JMH) is a regional museum in

Hohenems Hohenems (High Alemannic: ''Ems'') is a town in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the Dornbirn district. It lies in the middle of the Austrian part of the Rhine valley. With a population of 15,200, it is the fifth largest municipality in Vorarlbe ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

. The museum deals with the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

presence in Hohenems as well as surrounding regions. It also covers the

Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and puts the future of the European immigration society into focus. The destruction of the Jewish community of Hohenems via expulsion and

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

– see ''

Antisemitism in Austria Antisemitism (also spelled anti-Semitism)—prejudice, hatred of, or discrimination against Jews— has experienced a long history of expression since the days of ancient civilizations, with most of it having originated in the Christianity, Chris ...

'' – and the

Shoah The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...

are one of the museum's main topics. Besides the regional and global history, the museum is dedicated to the Jews and their stories. Each year, the museum offers a different temporary exhibition and an extensive event program. Since there is no longer a Jewish community in Hohenems, the museum's imparting of knowledge and communication must largely be made by non-Jews.

The building

The Jewish Museum Hohenems was opened in April 1991 and is housed in the Villa Heimann-Rosenthal in the heart of the former Jewish quarter. The villa of the Rosenthal family dates back to 1864 and can – now that it hosts the JMH – be perceived as an exhibit itself.

History of the Jewish community in Hohenems

In order to economically incentivise the small market town of Hohenems, Count Kaspar created the legal basis for the settlement of Jewish families in 1617. His goal was to make Hohenems' economy flourish through Jewish traders, servants, merchants and craftsmen. The rich community established a

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

, a school, a care centre for the elderly and poor, and a

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

. Demographically, the community reached their peak the first half of the 19th century and became a hub of their own Diaspora in and around the Alps, in Southern, Middle and Western Europe and in the US. Due to the Austrian constitution of 1867, Jewish citizens were allowed to choose their place of residence freely. The Swiss constitution of 1866 granted them similar rights, so many members of the Jewish community of Hohenems decided to migrate to larger cities in Austria and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. By 1935, there were 16 Jewish citizens left in Hohenems. This small group was expropriated by the municipality in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

as a consequence of the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. In 1940, the remaining Jewish citizens of Hohenems were dispersed by force. Some of them were deported to Vienna and later put into

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in Eastern Europe. Some survivors of the concentration camps (so-called

Displaced Persons Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

) were accommodated in Hohenems by French occupying forces after the war.

Exhibitions

The permanent exhibition "From the Middle Ages to the Present" was completely redesigned in 2007. It focuses on the Jewish community from its beginnings in the 17th century to the end after 1938, putting Jewish people and their personal lives in the centre of attention. In addition, there is an exhibition for children. Since the opening of the museum, a large collection of everyday objects and personal documents has been created in cooperation with the descendants of Jews from Hohenems all over the world and through multiple donations.

Past temporary exhibitions include

* Say Shibboleth! * The Female Side of God * Odd. *

Susan Philipsz Susan Mary Philipsz OBE (born 1965) is a Scottish artist who won the 2010 Turner Prize. Originally a sculptor, she is best known for her sound installations. She records herself singing a cappella versions of songs which are replayed over a pub ...

– Night and Fog * The First Europeans

References

External links