Vienna and the Jews, 18671938
Subtitle: A Cultural History
Edition: New Ed edition
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: January 25, 1991
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 281
ISBN-13: 9780521407274
Subjects: European history: c 1750 to c 1900; c 1700 to c 1800; c 1800 to c 1900; History - General History; History; History: World; Austria; Germany; Europe - Austria & Hungary; History / Austria & Hungary; History / Europe / General; Jews - Austria - Vienna - History; Europe - General
First sentence: The object of this section is to ascertain the 'Jewish' presence in modern high culture in Vienna, and then to offer some sort of context in which that presence is understandable.
Description: This book studies the role played by Jews in the explosion of cultural innovation in Vienna at the turn of the century, which had its roots in the years following the Ausgleich of 1867 and its demise in the sweeping events of the 1930s. The author shows that, in terms of personnel, Jews were predominant throughout most of Viennese high culture, and so any attempts to dismiss the "Jewish aspect" of the intelligentsia are refuted. The book goes on to explain this "Jewish aspect," dismissing any unitary, static model and adopting a historical approach that sees the "Jewishness" of Viennese modern culture as a result of the specific Jewish backgrounds of most of the leading cultural figures and their reactions to being Jewish.