Jewish Museum & Hohenems Palace

In 1617 Count Kaspar of Hohenems allowed Jewish families to settle – the beginning of a community that flourished in the 19th century, produced the synagogue composer Salomon Sulzer (born 1804) and was driven out in the Nazi era. The Jewish Museum has told this story since 1991 in the Villa Heimann-Rosenthal, an industrialist's villa built in 1864 by textile manufacturer Anton Rosenthal in the middle of the former Jewish quarter. The permanent exhibition, redesigned in 2007, ranges from settlement through everyday life and flight to the descendants around the world; an audio guide (German, English, French) is included, and children aged 6 to 12 have their own exhibition with stories by Monika Helfer in light boxes. In 2022 the museum received the Austrian Museum Prize. With your ticket you can explore the quarter: the synagogue of 1771 (now the Salomon Sulzer Hall), the mikveh of 1829 and the Jewish cemetery with around 370 gravestones – keys are available at the ticket desk.

A few minutes away stands the Hohenems Palace, built from 1562 to 1567 for Cardinal Mark Sittich and the most important Renaissance building in western Austria; two Nibelungenlied manuscripts were discovered here in 1755 and 1779. The palace is privately owned and can only be seen on a guided tour, usually Wednesdays at 3 pm (€19, booking via the town of Hohenems). The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday 10 am–5 pm; adults pay €11, and entry is free up to the age of 19. From our house it is 60 km or 51 minutes; by train via Bludenz to Hohenems, then a ten-minute walk.

Last updated: 13 Sep 2026