Map of the Jewish quarter in Unterer Werd at the time of its dissolution in 1670

It was not until 180 years after their expulsion in 1421 that Jews were allowed to form a community again in Vienna. The emperor needed them as financiers, particularly during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). The Jews had to leave the inner city in 1624, however, and move to the ghetto in Unterer Werd in today’s 2nd district. This is where this boundary stone comes from. The Unterer Werd was a flood-prone area in the middle of a branch of the Danube. In a society that offered no equality before the law, the ghetto nevertheless had some advantages for the members of the Jewish minority, as they could pursue their lives within its walls largely free of attacks by Christians. The situation gradually deteriorated over the years, and in 1670 Emperor Leopold I decided to expel the Jews from Vienna once again. This reflected not only his own hostility to the Jews but also the interests of the burghers of Vienna, who wished to be rid of their Jewish competitors.