Vienna and the Jews, 1867–1938
A Cultural History

Steven Beller (Author)

9780521407274, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 January 1991

284 pages
22.7 x 14.9 x 1.7 cm, 0.35 kg

'The book blossoms into a lucid, intellectual study, culminating in a discussion of the ethical links between the work of Arnold Schonberg, Karl Kraus and Ludwig Wittgenstein … the argument is exciting.' The Times Higher Education Supplement

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. Dr Beller shows that, among the personnel of leading society, Jews were predominant throughout most of Viennese modern high culture. Thus any attempts to dismiss the 'Jewish aspect' of the intelligentsia are necessarily refuted. The book then goes on to explain this 'Jewish aspect', disclaiming any unitary, static model, but adopting an historical approach which sees the 'Jewishness' of Viennese modern culture as a result of the specific Jewish backgrounds of most the of leading cultural figures and their own reactions to being Jewish. The culture of fin-de-siècle Vienna, it is claimed finally, was born out of the vivid encounter between the Jewish background and the Viennese context.

List of tables
Preface
Introduction
Part I. Jews in Viennese Culture and Society: The Statistical Perspective: 1. Who was a Jew in Vienna at the turn of the century?
2. How Jewish was fin-de-siècle Vienna?
3. The social context
4. Education and class - the position of the Jews in Viennese society
Part II. The Jewish Background to Viennese Culture: 5. Jewish consciousness: Jewish mind?
6. The distance from tradition
7. Education
8. Ethics and the individual
9. The Enlightenment
10. German culture
11. Vienna
12. Antisemitism
13. The ethics of outsiders: the cultural response
Conclusion: Vienna and the Jews in perspective
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], European history [HBJD]