SALZBURG

SALZBURG , city and province in W. Austria, formerly archbishopric and duchy. The first mention of Jews in the archbishopric occurred as early as 803 in a letter from Archbishop Arno (798–821) asking for the settlement of a Jewish physician in his district. A customs list from 905 contains references to Jewish salt merchants, and the term "Judendorf " occurs in sources dating from 1074, 1107, and 1197. The first clear reference to Jewish settlement occurred, however, during the tenure of Archbishop Conrad i (1106–47), who utilized Jews as financial advisers. A Judenstrasse in the market town of Admont is mentioned in a source dating from 1124. The oldest gravestone in the archbishopric, dating from 1240, was discovered in Friesach; 13^th–century settlements were noted in Muehldorf, Hallein, and Pettau (Ptuj). The first references to Jews in the city of Salzburg itself dates from 1282. In 1267 the district council prescribed for Jewish males the wearing of a horn-shaped hat (cornutus pileus), and forbade their visiting Christian baths and employing Christian domestics. Jews functioned as *moneylenders in the city of Salzburg, including among their customers members of the city administration; in 1285 a Jewish banker, Isaac, is noted among those who lent money to the treasury of the archbishop. Sources early in the 14^th century indicate widespread Jewish commercial ventures with the investment of considerable capital. In the city a Jewish gate, Judenstrasse, and synagogue date from the period.

During the course of the *Black Death persecutions of 1349, some 1,200 Jews in the archbishopric lost their lives, despite two unsuccessful efforts on the part of Pope *Clement iv to intervene. Although the city councils prohibited the return of converted Jews to the faith they abandoned during the persecutions, Jews are found again in the archbishopric in 1352. Their return was facilitated by the liberality of Archbishop Ortolph (1344–65). Jews began to appear in large numbers in the city of Salzburg only in the 1370s, partly as a result of the bold economic policies of Archbishop Pilgrim ii (1365–96). In 1377 a new place for worship was leased to the community to replace the one formerly used (in 1400 it was bought by three Jewish representatives of the community), and in the same year a cemetery was consecrated. Beginning in 1382 the archbishop began to call Jews to military service. The archbishopric in this period served as a sanctuary for Jews fleeing persecution elsewhere; in 1397, for example, a severe persecution of Jews in *Styria and *Carinthia brought a considerable number of refugees into Salzburg. A Salzburg scholar named Judah wrote a code on sheḥitah in this period. Despite the liberality of Salzburg's administration, however, an accusation of desecrating the *Host (1404) was directed against the Jews of Hallein and Salzburg. In Salzburg many Jews were burned at the stake; the rest were driven out of the city and their property confiscated. By 1418 a relatively large number of Jews had once more settled in the city. In the same year the provincial council extended its regulation on the wearing of a distinctive hat for Jewish males to Jewish women as well, ordering that bells also be attached to their garments. From 1429 Archbishop John ii followed a particularly enlightened policy toward the Jews, inviting Jewish refugees from Speyer, Zurich, Mainz, and Augsburg. Jews were given considerable freedom, e.g., they were allowed to acquire houses and other real estate. In 1439 a new synagogue was constructed in the city; in 1448 a mikveh was built in Hallein, where a synagogue also was in existence. In 1498 Jews were, however, accused of having stolen a sacred object of the church; as a result, the synagogues of both Hallein and Salzburg were destroyed and the Jews were banished in perpetuity from the archbishopric. At that same time, a wooden image of a sow with Jewish children nursing from it was set up in the town hall. Later reproduced in marble, the figures were not removed until 1785. Jewish traveling merchants traded in Salzburg during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The *Leibzoll was repealed in 1790 and two *Court Jews were established in Salzburg by 1800. Nevertheless, until 1867 there was no permanent Jewish settlement in what had been the Austrian duchy of Salzburg for 350 years; in 1867 full equality was granted to the Jews. By 1869 there were 42 Jews in Salzburg, and by 1882 there were 115. In the 1890s an organization was set up to coordinate the religious and cultural needs of the Jews living in the duchy. In 1893 a new synagogue was dedicated in Salzburg and a ḥevra kaddisha was formed. For a while, Theodor *Herzl practiced law in Salzburg, leaving the city in 1884. In 1894 a cemetery was consecrated in Aigen.

Adolf Altmann, who acted as rabbi in the community from 1907 to 1914, wrote extensively on the history of Salzburg's Jews. Between the world wars, Salzburg's Jews contributed significantly to the rich musical and literary life of the city. Both Stefan *Zweig and Bruno *Walter were among the many renowned Jewish personalities of the period. After the Anschluss almost all Jews were deported; in November 1938 the synagogue was destroyed and the cemetery desecrated; several Jewish enterprises were destroyed and 70 Jews arrested. After World War ii Salzburg served as a center for some 200,000 Jewish displaced persons. In 1953 a community was reestablished, and in 1968 the newly rebuilt synagogue was rededicated. The Salzburg university library houses a significant collection of Hebrew manuscripts. Around 100 Jews lived there in 2005.

bibliography:

Aronius, Regesten, 29–30, paragraphs 69, 80; Germ Jud, 1 (1963), 318–19 incl. bibl.; 2 pt. 2 (1968), 728–31, incl. bibl.; M. Karin-Karger and E. Landau (eds.), Salzburgs wiederaufgebaute Synagoge (1968); A. Altmann, Geschichte der Juden in Stadt und Land Salzburg, 2 vols. (1913–30); idem, in: jjlg, 19 (1928), 69–83; 20 (1929), 99–179; G. Wolf, Zur Salzburger Chronik (1873); idem, in: mgwj, 25 (1876), 284–5; R. Glanz, in: jsos, 4 (1942), 100–2, incl. bibl. notes; E. Isaac, ibid., 19 (1957), 65–68; E. Scheuer, Zu den Rechtsverhaeltnissen der Juden in den deutsch-oesterreichischen Laendern (1901), 543–71; H. Rosenkranz, Reichskristallnacht (1968), 53ff.; Y. Bauer, Flight and Rescue: Bricha (1970), index.

[Alexander Shapiro]

Salzburg City on the River Salzach, nw Austria, capital of the alpine Salzburg state. It grew around a 7th-century monastery, and for more than 1000 years was ruled by the Archbishops of Salzburg. It became part of Bavaria in 1809, but returned to Austria in the Congress of Vienna. The birthplace of Mozart and the home of several music festivals, its most important industry is tourism. Pop. (2001) 144,816.