Think Vienna and think Schoenberg, Schnitzler and Freud. These are just three Jewish names (among countless others) that immediately pop into mind: people who have contrib­uted significantly to Vienna’s international reputation as a city of intellectuals and artists. No matter where one walks in this European metropolis, the visitor comes across monuments of a vibrant Jewish life and history.

During the 13th and 14th centuries the Jews of Vienna were recognized as one of the most important Jewish communities in central Europe. Yet, as a group and as individuals Jews lived under the erratic whims of rulers and non-Jewish public opin­ion. By the 18th century, the city was host to an era of prominent Court Jews like Samuel Oppenheimer and Samson Wertheimer. They turned Vienna into a center of Jewish diplomacy within the Empire and an important crossroads for trade. Finally Emperor Joseph II issued an Edict of Tolerance (1781) that eventually led to the emancipation of the Jews.

In the 19th and early 20th century the community grew rapidly and became one of the leading Jewish communities in the world. Avant-garde author Arthur Schnitzler, expressionist composer Arnold Schoenberg and the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud revolutionized their respective fields and placed Vienna on the world map of culture and science.

Many Viennese Jews were able to flee from the Nazi terror. Others were deported, some ending in the notorious Mauthausen concentra­tion camp or its satellite camps. Keeping the memory of the Shoah alive is a never-ending task for a city in which at one time every tenth person was Jewish. It has taken many decades for Austria to accept its responsibility for the crimes of the Nazis, but it is now doing so. Since 2000, Judenplatz is home to an extraordinary Holocaust memorial. Inspired by the Jewish love of learn­ing, British artist Rachel Whitehead created a symbolic ’nameless library’ above the former old synagogue. The archaeological excavation of the Judenplatz synagogue is now part of the Jewish Museum and together the two memorial sites form a bridge of memory across time.

Today orthodox and liberal Jewish institutions of Vienna work for the future. The creation of new schools and education facilities, cultural ex­hibits and prayer rooms are contrib­uting substantially to a pluralistic Jewish community. Milk & Honey Tours navigates through this maze of history and culture. We’ll help you to discover eight centuries of fascinating Jewish history in the Leopold­stadt district, to find secret and concealed cemeteries, to hear little-known tales about the Ferris Wheel and to be mesmerized by the stunning grandeur of the Ring St. palaces. Why not give in to tempta­tion and try a piece of kosher Wienerschnitzel and taste that Jewish life in Vienna isn’t just historical!

Tour Options
- Package for cruise ship passengers (Danube river cruise)
- Multiple-day tour program
- Full-day driving tour of Jewish and general sites (including Leopoldstadt)
- 4-hour walking tour with public transportation of Jewish sites (includingThe Ring)
- 3-hour walking tour (First District)
- Day trip to the Mauthausen concentration camp memorial site
- Day trip (6-hour tour) to Burgenland (May-October, Monday-Friday only)
- Wedding Trips

4 Hour Private Tour by foot and public transportation
In a four hour combined walking/public transportation tour you have the chance to experience the flavour of the inner city described above combined with prominent sites along the Ring Strasse: the Opera, the Hofburg, government ministries, as well as the private palaces of Jewish families.

3 Hour Private Walking Tour
In Vienna Jewish life was originally located in the very heart of the city, 10 minutes walking distance from the famous St, Stephen's Cathedral. A walking tour of the First District therefore will include the main phases of Jewish history: its beginnings, the Middle Ages and Ghetto, the grand cultural epoch of the 19th and 20th centuries, the persecution under the Nazis, the work of the Simon Wiesenthal centre, and the current cultural and political activities of the community. All around the famous Seitenstettengasse temple important sites of Jewish life are to be found. Of course we pass some of Vienna's world famous sites on the tour like St. Stephen's Cathedral and Square and the baroque boulevard 'Graben'. This overview tour of Jewish Vienna lasts approximately 3 hours.

Exclusive 6 Hour Private Tour with guide, vehicle and driver
In a combined walking and driving day tour you will explore the monuments of vibrant Jewish life and history around every corner. Get the whole picture! See main sites and Jewish sites in the First District and Leopoldstadt.
Meet the Milk & Honey Tours guide in your hotel and after exploring the First District at the very heart of Vienna, go on to discover eight centuries of fascinating Jewish history. Visit the Second district, the Leopoldstadt (“Mazze-Island”). Find secret and concealed cemeteries, hear little-known tales about the Ferris Wheel, be mesmerized by the stunning grandeur of the Ringstrasse palaces, and give in to temptation by trying local kosher delicacies. See for yourself that Jewish life in Vienna isn't just historical!

Wedding Trips
According to Jewish tradition, forty days before a male child is conceived, a voice from heaven announces who he is to marry—literally a match made in heaven! What better place to celebrate this ‘match’ than in Vienna, the romantic capital of the world! Which bride has not dreamed of a fairytale wedding dancing to the Emperor’s waltz in the city of love? Shall we help you raise the chuppa on the banks of the Danube? Dance the hora at the Schoenbrunn Palace?

Milk & honey tours will organize the family wedding trip you have dreamed of: from a Vienna program for the couple, your family and guests, the Ketubah for the most important day of your life, through to the glass which the chatan will break as he steps toward his new life…we are looking forward to making this a very special celebration for you and the highlight of an unforgettable journey.

Burgenland, Excursion from Vienna
Highlights of Jewish history are combined with the beautiful landscape of Burgenland, a small province east of Vienna. Near Neusiedler Lake, this area belonged to Hungary until 1921. Permanent Jewish communities in Burgenland began establishing them­selves in the 17th century, al­though the first date of Jewish set­tlement goes back to the 13th century. In Eisenstadt, we will visit the Jewish museum and private synagogue of Samson Wertheimer (1658-1724), an influential finance minister of the Habsburg Court in Vienna. This small jewel is one of the very few syna­gogues that was not destroyed during ’Crystal Night’ in 1938. After a short stroll through the old Jewish quarter we will reach the Jewish cemetery. Eisenstadt was the seat of the Esterhazy aristocratic family – pa­trons of the arts and wine-growers. Their impressive palace combines Baroque splendour with Austrian Biedemeier style. On request, a one-hour tour inside the palace can be booked in advance. Traveling on to Kobersdorf, this town is representative of the ‘Seven Com­munities’ (Sheva Kehillot), a chain of Jewish settlements from the 17th century. We will view the syna­gogue and cemetery with over 1000 graves. Kobersdorf was well-known as a Jewish spa in the past. A lunch break will be planned in the picturesque village of Rust, located among vineyards on the Neusiedler Lake shore. A visit to the kosher win­ery at Mönchhof with wine-tasting can be arranged.