Before WWII, Vienna was home to one of Europe’s largest and most prominent Jewish communities. Vienna’s Jews were represented in all walks of life, but their contribution to the city’s cultural life at the fin de siècle is legendary. This influence is still felt today—be it in the music of Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schönberg, the plays of Arthur Schnitzler, or the books of Stefan Zweig.

Vienna also housed a powerful Jewish upper middle class whose appreciation and support of the visual arts and culture incubated a thriving arts scene. Major patrons of the arts were Serena Lederer, Adele Bloch-Bauer and the incomparable Alma Mahler-Werfel (wife of Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, and Franz Werfel, all at different times, of course).

Though these Semites are not around today, their legacy is still there to be seen, and is brought to life in the guide below.