Vienna Family Places

Simon and I, together with our other halves Becky and William, visited Vienna on 4th to 8th June 2026. We visited as many addresses as we could associated with our father Manfred's family. Here is a narrative with photos of the places we visited.

Higher res versions of the photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Uqp9wMvyUKy7jiS29

Family Residence Lerchenfelderstrasse 66/59 (ie flat 59 at no 66)

There was an entrance marked 66/68 and it was open. Here are a few photos from inside and outside. Father's comment: "Sadly, I have no recollection of Lerchenfelderstrasse 66, except for a dim idea of the arrangement of No 59, which may well be imaginary and which you anyway could not see."

 

Luxfilm Offices Neubaugasse 25

In the 30's this architecturally significant building housed a number of offices related to the film industry, and it apparently still does. The architecture is mentioned here: 

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Prutscher.

Remand prison Landesgerichstrasse 11

This is now (it seems) the department of justice, and it was heavily shrouded in wood panels due to building work, so views are rather partial.

The Stumble Stone (plaque) translates as: In memory of the women and men executed here for political reasons during the Nazi era 1938 to 1945. Father's comment: "The plaque indicates that it was more than the remand prison attached to the criminal court that I had imagined, and that there were  executions there. But Wikipedia confirms this was only after your grandfather's death, and does not contradict the general belief that he most likely died by suicide."

Shoah Wall of Names Memorial (Shoah Namensmauern Gedenkstätte) on Otto-Wagner-Platz

We came upon this by chance. It had all 65000 names on stone panels. There were many Brods. It was possible to put a pebble at the base (pebbles were provided for the purpose) and I put one on father's behalf as well as one on mine.

This memorial was just opposite the remand prison. Father's comment: "Good to see your grandfather's name there. The other Brods were not so far as I know related. The Brod name is mostly connected with Prague and I don't know of any of our own family apart from my father (and a married sister of his) who went from Rudnik to Vienna."

  

 

Grandfather Josef Koppelmann's home at Singerstrasse 6

This is very central, and would have a view of the double-headed eagle done in tiles on the roof of the cathedral.

Jewish Cemetery

Firstly, how to find it. It is part of the Central Cemetery complex, but not marked on their maps. To get there one takes the 11 or 71 tram from Simmering (which is end-of-the-underground), and gets out at the 4th entrance: Zentralfriedhof 4. Tor.

Father, Israel Brod:

Gruppe:  22

Reihe:  44

Nummer:  21

Simon writes: 'The search for grandfather Iszu's grave was quite the quest... we started out on a sunny morning all naive and needed the evidence of our eyes and the kindness of strangers to understand we were on the wrong path. More than once. We somehow succeeded after nearly quitting a couple of times. And, in the end, we reached our goal and found wisdom and tranquility (well just a little). The whole adventure was more than a little surreal.

Once we found the right zone in the Jewish cemetery there was a change of rhythm. The graves are set out in roughly chronological fashion, and the rows progress at a steady pace through the 1920s and 1930s. But 1938 marks an acceleration. Perhaps a third of the graves are of young people, too young to die; and so every month takes more steps across the graveyard.

When we finally neared the grave we were aiming for we could not know it. First, it was hidden in tall thick grass, that whole zone of the graveyard not having been trimmed since last year (or perhaps longer). Somehow that day was the day the team of gardeners that maintain the cemetery were cutting back the grass in that very row. So we miraculously arrived a short time before his headstone was revealed. Second, we couldn't know it because nothing marks the place from which you must count to find the correct grave for the reference number you are seeking. Only the gardeners' help could get us past that hurdle. And third, the engraving on the headstone is in Hebrew, the only one in a sea of German.'

      

Father notes: "I did my best to translate the wording on the tombstone. Your grandfather was 'a man simple and upright, seeking righteousness and loving- kindness all his days. He died at half his (proper) lifespan ... Israel son of Mr Abraham Brod .... '.

But note that my grandfather was actually Abraham Schwartz, and Brod my grandmother's name. Iszu was declared on his birth certificate to be illegitimate, which was normal since in Habsburg days Jews didn't bother with legally recognised marriages."

It was hard for us to find this tombstone, partly because we couldn't read it. As it happens, there were four gardeners strimming this exact area as we were looking, and one of us counted down the row for us, so that we knew where the grave was meant to be. Father confirmed when he saw the photograph.

Simon and I sat a while in front of Grandfather's grave. We put pebbles there and also, since the gardeners had just strimmed the area, some long grass that had been mown down - which felt symbolic.

As far as I could tell, there were very few tombstones with no German or English on them at all, though many had at least some Hebrew.

Manfred and Ernie's Grandmother, Adele Koppelmann:

Gruppe:  12

Reihe:  22

Nummer:  14

This one was easier to find:

  

Mother's home before marriage Odeongasse 8/2

We didn't get to visit this.

Father's home before marriage Henzelmanngasse 15/26

(he was lodging with relatives)

Sammellager (Collection camp) Kleine Sperlgasse 2a

This is in a quiet cul-de-sac in a nice looking residential area, that seems still to be quite Jewish. It is now a school (Gymnasium in German), and was a school back then. The plaque translates as: 'In memory of the 40 000 Jewish citizens who were captive by the Gestapo in this part of the school between October 1941 and March 1943 and were deported from here to extermination camps. Never forget.'

    

Sammellager (Collection camp) Castellezgasse 35

A bit further from the city centre, the last building on another quiet street, with parkland after it.

The stumble stones (metal plaques in the ground) say: in memory of the many Jewish men, women and children who spent the last days before their deportation under horrible conditions in this community camp. And then what happened to four specific people (out of presumably many thousands).

The wall plaque reads something like: 'As a Kindergarten and Jewish Gymnasium, this building, donated in 1884, used to educate people before it was robbed by the National Socialists and turned into a collection camp for Vienna Jews. This memorial plaque was placed by the current residents in memory of the countless deported and murdered people caused by a barbaric regime.'