A Jewish community has existed in Hohenems for over 300 years, reaching its prime in the first half of the 19th century, when it was responsible for an upturn in the region’s economy. In 1850 the Jewish community consisted of more than 500 people, a sixth of the town’s total population.
In the 1860s people started to move away, and the community began to break up. Those remaining disappeared during the Nazi era. The last eight Jewish people living in Hohenems in 1939 were all murdered in concentration camps. Among these was Clara Heimann-Rosenthal, the last Jewish occupant of the Villa Heimann-Rosenthal.