[Leica] IMG: Vienna's Judenplatz

[imra at iol.ie (Douglas Barry)]

Peter, I'd heard of Lessing, but was not familiar with him. I see he 
died at Braunschweig in Germany where my three Rolleiflexes were born. 
I'm sure there's a moral there somewhere.
Sadly, philosophers can enunciate - based on life and the lessons of 
history - but seekers of temporal power, and the mobs that support them, 
grind these enunciations into blood soaked streets.
Humanity will never learn, more's the pity

Douglas

On 14/07/2017 10:57, Peter Klein wrote:
> If any one place can symbolize the struggle between tolerance and 
> intolerance in Europe, the Judenplatz in Vienna is a worthy candidate. 
> At one end of the square is a statue of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, a 
> key Enlightenment writer and philosopher, and pioneering dramatist of 
> the German-speaking world.
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24844563 at 
> N04/35910082945/in/dateposted-public/> 
>
>
> Lessing's play "Nathan the Wise," set during the Third Crusade, was a 
> plea for religious tolerance. The title character was based on 
> Lessing's lifelong friend Moses Mendelssohn, today considered the 
> spiritual father of liberal Judaism. Other characters are the Sultan 
> Saladin and a Knight Templar.  They discuss which of their three 
> religions is the true one. Lessing's answer: "Of this you may be sure: 
> Your father loved you all, and it was his ardent wish that all of you 
> should love one another." This was such a radical idea that the Church 
> banned the play during Lessing's lifetime. In some quarters, it is 
> still a radical idea.
>
> Now let's turn around with our backs to the statue. We see this:
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24844563 at 
> N04/35869709356/in/dateposted-public/> 
>
>
> This is the Holocaust memorial, in the form of a library turned 
> inside-out, dedicated to the more than 65,000 Austrian Jews killed by 
> "the Nazis" between 1938 and 1945.
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24844563 at 
> N04/35910083045/in/dateposted-public/> 
>
>
> Behind and to the right of the memorial, you can see a building with 
> several traffic barrier posts in front. This is the Jewish museum and 
> community center. Such barriers, which surround most Jewish 
> synagogues, schools and institutions in Europe, are a reminder of the 
> real threat of terrorism. We could hear children singing Hebrew songs 
> inside. The guard became *very* nervous when anyone walked near the 
> barriers.
>
> The Judenplatz was the center of Viennese Jewish life during the 
> Middle Ages. Until 1420-21, when Archduke Albert V instituted a series 
> of persecutions against the community of 1400-1600 Jews. It culminated 
> in the last 200 surviving Jews burned at the stake, all Jewish 
> property confiscated, and Jews banned from Austria.  The Holocaust 
> Memorial sits atop the foundation of the destroyed medieval synagogue.
>
> The statue of Lessing is the second one to stand in the square. The 
> Nazis tore down the first one and melted it down for munitions.
>
> "Nathan the Wise" was playing at Vienna's Volkstheater during our 
> visit. With supratitles in English and Arabic.
> <http://www.metropole.at/nathan-with-strings/>
>
> Today, who embraces Lessing's still-radical idea, and who its 
> malignant opposite? It's a question we need to ask, and keep asking.
>
> --Peter
>
>
>
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