Long Lost Hebrew Prayerbook from the Rothschild Family To Star at Sotheby’s New York

The Rothschild Vienna Mahzor, 1415 Prayers for the Morning Services of Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year)

One of the Most Important Medieval Illustrated Hebrew Prayerbooks To Star at Sotheby’s New York this February

– The Second of its Kind to Come to Market in More than Century –

A Jewel of the Celebrated Rothschild Collection in Vienna, The Recently Restituted Hebrew Manuscript will be Offered with an Estimate of $5 – 7 Million

This February in New York, Sotheby’s will offer for sale one of the most important illustrated Hebrew Prayerbooks to come to market: The Rothschild Vienna Mahzor. Dating to the early 15th century, this monumental High Holiday prayer book encapsulates both the refinement of medieval book arts and the fragility of Jewish life in Europe. Newly restituted, the manuscript bears a remarkable history of resilience and survival, reflecting the complex journeys of Jewish cultural treasures through centuries of upheaval.

The tradition of illustrated Hebrew prayerbooks first flourished in southern Germany in the mid-thirteenth century, with fewer than twenty examples known to survive today. Among these rare masterpieces, the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor stands out as one of only three known to remain in private hands. The historic Hebrew manuscript — created by a Jewish scribe-artist, superbly preserved, and distinguished by its exceptional provenance — ranks among the rarest of its kind, as just the second medieval illustrated mahzor to come to market in more than a century. Its appearance follows the landmark sale of the Luzzatto High Holiday Mahzor at Sotheby’s in 2021, which achieved $8.3 million and set a new auction record for an illustrated Hebrew manuscript.

The Mahzor takes its name from its celebrated 19th century owners, the renowned Rothschild banking family. Salomon Mayer von Rothschild (1774–1855) of the Viennese branch. The second son of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, acquired the manuscript in 1842 in Nuremberg as a gift for his son, Anselm Salomon von Rothschild (1803–1874). Following Anselm Salomon’s death in 1874, the Mahzor was passed down through generations of the family – from Anselm Salomon to his son Nathaniel, and later to his nephew Alphonse Rothschild in 1906 – becoming part of the family’s extensive collection of exquisite art and objects.

Everything changed, however, with the Nazi Party’s rise to power. Following the Anschluss in March 1938, Nazi forces seized the Rothschild Palais in Vienna, the home of Alphonse von Rothschild and his wife, Clarice, both of whom were in England at the time. The residence and its contents were seized, stripping the family of legal ownership. The Rothschild art collection and library were subsequently inventoried at a storage facility before being dispersed — some works were allocated to museums, others entered the art market, but a small portion of the library, including the Mahzor, was sent directly to the Austrian National Library, where it went unrecognized as Nazi-looted property for decades. As a result, the Mahzor bore no markings of confiscation and was not subject to restitution immediately after World War II.

The Mahzor resurfaced to the public in 2021, when it was loaned by the Austrian National Library for an exhibition celebrating the legacy of the Viennese branch of the Rothschild family. Subsequently restituted to the descendants of Alphonse and Clarice Rothschild, the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor now comes to market with an estimate of $5-7 million.

Ahead of its sale in New York on 5 February the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor will be exhibited at Sotheby’s New York alongside the Important Judaica auction (11 – 16 December), Los Angeles (12 – 16 January) and then back to New York at Sotheby’s new global headquarters at the iconic Breuer building for Masters Week (30 January – 3 February).

“While the wrongs of the past can never be undone, the restitution of this Mahzor carries deep meaning for our family as it stands as both an acknowledgment of history and a small measure of closure to a pain that has echoed through generations.” – THE HEIRS OF ALPHONSE AND CLARICE ROTHSCHILD

“Rarely does a single manuscript encompass so many worlds at once — faith and artistry, persecution and survival. The Rothschild Vienna Mahzor stands not only as a masterpiece of medieval illumination but also as a symbol of extraordinary historical perseverance. Its six-century journey mirrors the broader story of Jewish resilience. The restitution of the Mahzor is a moment of both justice and remembrance; its reemergence invites us to honor not only its beauty, but the lasting power of memory and faith it embodies.” – SHARON LIBERMAN MINTZ, SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL SENIOR SPECIALIST, JUDAICA

HISTORY OF THE ROTHSCHILD VIENNA MAHZOR

Hebrew prayerbooks known as mahzorim (singular: mahzor) contain the cycle of prayers for the entire Jewish liturgical year. During the Middle Ages, Jewish communities across Europe and beyond developed distinctive regional traditions. In the Ashkenazic lands of Central Europe, prayer services were enriched with Hebrew liturgical poems known as piyyutim (singular: piyyut), recited on fast days, festivals, and other special occasions. These poetic compositions guided worshippers’ reflections on the themes of each holiday, deepening the spiritual experience. However, because customs evolved over time and the mahzorim themselves were occasionally transported from one locale to another, alternate practices and usages were frequently recorded in the margins of these prayer books by later hands.

Completed in 1415 by the hand of a Jewish scribe, Moses, son of Menachem, the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor was used during the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The liturgical customs indicate that this monumental manuscript was produced in Vienna, and its scale, opulence, and artistry indicate that it was created for communal use rather than private devotion. The decorations astonish, the pages brimming with animals and fantastical creatures set in Gothic archways, curling scrollwork and burnished gold initial-word panels. The parchment was carefully prepared to receive vivid mineral and organic pigments – deep lapis blues, verdant copper greens, and cinnabar reds – whose brilliance remains after six centuries.

The manuscript’s decoration reveals the influence of the Lake Constance school of illumination, a flourishing artistic tradition that developed along the borders of southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in the 14th century. Distinguished by its architectural panels, intricate foliage, and lively hybrid figures rendered in a rich palette of deep blues, reds, and yellows, this style left a lasting mark on regional art. Though created nearly a century later, the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor clearly draws upon this tradition. One theory suggests that Jewish refugees from the Lake Constance area brought their illuminated manuscripts to Vienna following the devastation of the Black Death of 1348-49, making the Mahzor an artistic descendant of that vibrant school.

Yet history weighed heavily on this masterpiece. By 1420-21 — within a decade of the Mahzor’s completion — Vienna’s Jewish community was gripped by persecution as its members faced forced conversion, expulsion, imprisonment, and ultimately the execution of over 200 Jews. This tragic episode led to the effective cessation of the medieval Jewish community of Vienna. The Mahzor traveled on, its margins soon inscribed with notes adapting the prayers to the Western Ashkenazi liturgical rites — evidence of new readers in new lands.

THE ROTHSCHILD FAMILY & RESTITUTION

Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812) laid the foundation for the Rothschild family’s financial success in Frankfurt. Following his apprenticeship at the Oppenheimer banking house in Hanover, he established his own coin dealing business in Frankfurt, which soon evolved into banking. Rothschild brought his sons — Amschel Mayer (1773–1855), Salomon Mayer (1774–1855), Nathan Mayer (1777–1836), Carl Mayer (1788–1855), and Jacob Mayer (1792–1868) — into partnership, forming a pioneering transnational financial network.

In his will, Mayer Amschel stipulated that key business positions were to remain exclusively within the male line of descendants and that the eldest son of the eldest son would serve as head of the family. Under this structure, Amschel Mayer continued to manage the Frankfurt business, Nathan Mayer oversaw operations in London, Carl Mayer led the Neapolitan branch, and James Mayer directed the Paris line.

Salomon Mayer Rothschild, who relocated to Vienna in the early 1820s, established the Viennese branch and headed the local banking house S. M. v. Rothschild. He played a pivotal role in organizing financial support for European states against Napoleon Bonaparte I through transactions with the Rothschild firm in London. By managing the transfer of English funds, the family achieved both international prominence and considerable wealth, earning the imperial title of nobility “von” as early as 1816.

On 5 August 1842, the Mahzor entered the collection of the prestigious European family when Salomon Mayer Rothschild purchased the manuscript in the city of Nuremberg for a princely sum of 151 gold coins as a gift for his son Anselm Salomon (1803-1874). The Rothschild family’s pride of ownership was marked by the addition of a title page, embellished with the family’s baronial coat of arms and a dedicatory inscription in Hebrew addressed by Salomon Mayer Rothschild to his son Anselm Salomon, stating:

“I bought this book in the city of Nuremberg for one hundred and fifty-one gold coins and gave it as a gift to my dear and pleasant son, crowned with virtues and merits, Anselm Baron von Rothschild may he be blessed with a long life, for safekeeping for generations to come, so that the Torah of God may forever be in our mouths, amen selah. Frankfurt am Main, Friday, the eve of the month of Elul in the year, 5602 [5 August 1842].”

In his will dated 26 August 1871, Anselm Salomon named his three sons — Nathaniel Mayer (1836–1905), Ferdinand James (1839–1898), and Albert Salomon (1844–1911) — as his heirs. Nathaniel Rothschild inherited the majority of his father’s art collection, including nine manuscripts. When Nathaniel Rothschild passed away on 13 June 1905 at his at his Palais on Theresianumgasse 14, he appointed his brother, Albert Salomon Rothschild (1844–1911), as his universal heir. As Nathaniel remained childless, a codicil to his will bequeathed, among other items, the Palais on Theresianumgasse — along with its art objects and furnishings — to his nephew, Alphonse Rothschild (1878–1942), the son of Albert Salomon.

The Mahzor is recorded in an appraisal of Nathaniel Rothschild’s estate conducted in 1906 at the Palais on Theresianumgasse No. 14 in Vienna’s 4th district, confirming that the Mahzor passed successively from Anselm Salomon to Nathaniel, and subsequently to his nephew Alphonse Rothschild.

When the German Reich annexed Austria on 12 March 1938 (the Anschluss), Alphonse von Rothschild and his wife, Clarice, were in England, having spent the previous year in Switzerland. Just two days later, authorities sealed the Rothschild Palais at Theresianumgasse 14 and seized its contents, including the family’s renowned art and cultural collections. On 18 March, the Nazi regime formally stripped Alphonse von Rothschild of legal ownership of his property.

Following the confiscation, the Rothschild art collection and library were inventoried at a deposit facility before being dispersed: some works went to museums, while others entered the art market. However, a small portion of the library — including the Mahzor — was sent directly to the Austrian National Library without being inventoried and remained there for decades, unrecognized as Nazi-looted property.

Transferred several times within the National Library’s holdings, the original provenance of the Mahzor remained untraceable up until the National Library inventoried it in 1992. Consequently, it went undetected when the Federal Collections began reviewing their holdings following the enactment of legislation in 1998 that reopened the possibility of restituting artworks looted by the Nazis.

It was only when scholars from the Center for Jewish Art comprehensively researched the illuminated Hebrew manuscripts of the Vienna National Library in 1998-1999 — that a detailed description of the Mahzor’s contents, art historical significance, and provenance was made, including identification of the Rothschild coat of arms and dedicatory inscription.

The Mahzor reemerged to the public in 2021, when it was loaned for an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Vienna, The Vienna Rothschilds: A Thriller, which highlighted the Viennese branch of the family. Subsequently, in June 2023, following extensive provenance research and under Austria’s Art Restitution Law (1998, amended 2009), the Austrian Art Restitution Advisory Board formally recommended the return of the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor to the heirs of Alphonse von Rothschild. This decision illuminated a remarkable story of loss and recovery, reuniting the manuscript with the family whose collection once epitomized Jewish cultural patronage in Europe.

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