On these postcards, Wiener Werkstätte textiles frame greetings for Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). They were likely made by a Jewish youth organization and orphanage that provided vocational training to its children to cultivate Jewish craftsmanship. Capitalizing on the popularity of its designs, the Wiener Werkstätte may have licensed these cards for consumers to personalize with greetings or images within the circular and square frames. A youth organization employing these types of cards is unsurprising given that tzedakah (the Jewish philosophical practice of charity) was widely embraced by upper-middle-class Jewish women, including Wiener Werkstätte patrons, in Vienna. Lili Waerndorfer’s mother, Lina Hellmann, and Berta Zuckerkandl’s mother, Arnalie Szeps, were regularly involved in Jewish social causes, charitable practices they passed on to their daughters.

Printed at center
In Hebrew: “May you be inscribed for a good year.”
In German: “Herzlichen Glückwunsch/zum neuen Jahre!”
[Sincere wishes for the New Year!]