Mazel tov to Hanno Loewy, the director of the Jewish Museum in Hohenems, Austria, who has been awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art!
He was among 22 people who received high state honors for their services to the Republic from Federal President Alexander van der Bellen, at a ceremony this week (October 28) at the Presidential Chancellery in Vienna.
Loewy, who will retire as director of the museum at the end of March 2026, was honored for having “headed the Jewish Museum Hohenems since 2004 and developed it into an internationally recognized institution.
He is actively involved in interfaith dialogue and promotes understanding between different cultures and religions. His commitment to an open and tolerant society is reflected in his work in the museum, as well as in public statements and initiatives.
Hohenems is a small town in the far west of Austria near the Swiss border. Jews settled there more than 400 years ago and formed a lively community. Today, few Jews live in either Hohenems or the surrounding Austrian region of Voralberg, but the Jewish museum, former synagogue, mikvah, Jewish quarter in general, and Jewish cemetery bear testament to its past.
The Jewish Museum in Hohenems was opened in 1991 in the Heimann-Rosenthal villa in the center of the town’s former Jewish quarter. Its permanent exhibition centers on the history of the local Jewish community up to (and after) its destruction during the Nazi era, and it hosts special temporary exhibitions as well as an extensive program of events. The museum also maintains a close relationship with the descendants of Jewish families from Hohenems around the world.
In 2022 it received the Austrian Museum Prize, awarded annually by the Museum Advisory Board of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sports (BMKÖS) for outstanding achievements in the field of museum work.
Loewy wrote a Have Your Say essay for JHE in 2016. In it, he describes how family history often provides tangible connections to Jewish memory and heritage, with Jewish built heritage as a touchstone.
Read the announcement of the award on the museum web site
See a news article, with the names of all 22 honorees and their awards