Moderne Gärten für moderne Menschen. Jüdische Wiener Gartenarchitektinnen der 1920er und 1930er Jahre

Abstract

Abstract In the 1920s and early 1930s, seven women designed private gardens in and around Vienna, published articles on modern garden design, enlarged the range of perennials in Austria and supported the horticultural training of women. Within the liberal Viennese bourgeoisie, they cultivated a private and professional network – among them artists and architects – which helped them to gain professional independence in a male dominated field. Significantly, all these women were of Jewish origin and, thus, could not pursue their brief professional careers due to Nazi persecution and expulsion. Many contractors were Jewish as well; their gardens – per se fragile structures due to their natural material – were “aryanized” and endangered. Expulsion caused not only an immense loss to Austrian garden architecture; ultimately, the profession lost these women pioneers as important protagonists and role models for the post-World War II generation.