A report of the Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde of Vienna for the years 1933-1936. The establishment of an autonomous Jewish religious community was officially sanctioned by Emperor Franz Josef in 1849. This distinction was the first of a series of measures culminating in definitive establishment of the Jewish Community (Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde) vesting the highest diplomatic status in the Jewish Community (Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde) as an official representative serving the Jewish population of Vienna as well as the Jewish community of Austria.

The Jewish population of the Monarchy was officially subjected to and forced to tolerate many bitter hardships prior to this long-awaited official intercession by the Monarchy. The first great exile 1420/21, the second exile 1670, were an affront to and violation of the Jewish citizens of the Monarchy. Patient in the most extreme circumstances, publicly ostracized and treated with hostility, the Jewish population endured the privation of Vienna and the Monarchy. Under the influence of the enlightenment Emperor Joseph II issued an Edict of Tolerance, that led to the emancipation of the Jews. For the first time, civil rights were extended to the Jewish population and discriminating measures repealed. The formation of a religious community and official worship were not yet officially tolerated.

Upon the recommendation of Michael Lazar Biedermann in 1824 Rabbi Isak Noa Mannheimer came to in Vienna. An official Jewish community had yet to be acknowledged. In its absence, the imperial style influenced his appointment as "Director of the Official Imperial and Royal Jewish Religious School of Vienna." Mannheimer carefully implemented reforms without dividing the religious community in Vienna. Many other European Jewish communities of the nineteenth century fell victim to internal dissension.

On December 12, 1825, the cornerstone of the Vienna Synagogue was set at Seitenstettengasse 4 and ,on April 9, 1826, consecrated by Mannheimer. The synagogue was designed according to the plans of the architect Josef Kornhäusel and the prevailing building regulations strictly adhered to in constructing a residential building - a fact which hindered its destruction in November 1938. For the first time since their exile in 1670, the Jewish population of Vienna had triumphed in erecting a spiritual and religious center combining a synagogue, school and ritual bath. In 1826 Salomon Sulzer was appointed to the office of Head Cantor of the Viennese Synagogue, which he served in for 56 years. Parallel to Mannheimer«s moderate reforms affecting rituals, Sulzer succeeded in reinterpreting and adapting prayer, fully maintaining the Jewish character of the musical works. Mannheimer and Sulzer are the recognized founders of a prayer tradition which became known as "Wiener Nussach".

The civil war of 1848 encouraged many Jewish intellectuals to engage in the struggle for the emancipation of the Jews within the framework of civil unrest. In the wake of these circumstances, a notable meeting with the young Emperor took place in 1849. Finally, in 1852, the "provisional statutes" of the Vienna community were recognized as official. The community had achieved its lasting autonomy to manage internal and religious concerns. Leopold von Wertheimstein served as the first President (until 1863). Adolf Jelinek followed Mannheimer in 1856 as the second Rabbi to be appointed in Vienna. The LeopoldstŠdter Temple, built according to the plans of Ludwig Förster, was consecrated in 1858.

In 1867, a constitutional framework pertaining to the Jewish population came to be recognized in Austria for the first time. The Jewish population were granted the rights accorded to all citizens and received full citizenship. The Jewish community grew quite rapidly in the course of these developments: Registration in the Jewish Community of Vienna in 1860 the Jewish population counted 6,200 members, in 1870 there were 40,200 and at the turn of the century 147,000, uncovering their destiny in the imperial capital.

Reforms in the community in 1872 guided by liberal progessive power under the leadership of Ignaz Kurandas gave rise to internal conflict. The orthodox following of Salomon Spitzer wanted to abandon the community. A compromise meliorated the conflict. In the same year a monumental example of Jewish philanthrophy was founded: Rothschild Hospital. 1886 founding of the "Austrian-Jewish Union" by Rabbi Bloch, who targeted on defending Jewish political rights, improving Jewish education and supporting Jewish pride in identity. 1890 "Jewish Law" codification of the relationship between different congregations and the state on a unified legal basis.. 1918 Zwi Perez Chajes, a representative of national Judaism, became Chief Rabbi. His secular education reinforced ties to East-European Jewry. Chajes is also Founder of the first Jewish Gymnasium and the Jewish Pedagogium in Vienna. In honor of his achievements the Jewish Gymnasium, which carries his name, reopened in 1984.

After 100 years of Jewish emancipation efforts, antisemitism rose in the time between the two World Wars, exhibited by Christian Socialists, German Nationalists and National Socialist parties. This accompanied the religious and economically motivated hatred of Jews. The political regime supported the escalating violence with a wave of persecution, organised on the day following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938: Jews were harassed, chased through Vienna, apartments and stores were pillaged. These riots reached their heights on the evenings of the nineth and tenth of November 1938. Explosions of "spontaneous public displays of hatred of Jews" arranged by Nazis took place throughout the evening, all synagogues and temples in Vienna were ravaged in the night. Only the central synagogue was not completely laid to waste, protected by its residential surroundings. The means of livelihood of the Jews, stores and factories, were largely reduced to rubble, more than 6,000 Jews were apprehended and, with few exceptions transported to the Dachau Concentration Camp.