Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau is believed to have been born in Vienna between 1380-1395. In his early adult years he moved to Tyrnau, in Austria. It appears that later on he moved to serve as rabbi in Pressburg (now Bratislava, in Slovakia), where he was known as the Rabbi from Tyrnau.
Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau is acknowledged for having compiled the first book of minhagim (customs of behavior). He identified customs and codes of behavior to be followed throughout the year that were adopted in most Jewish communities in Austria, and Hungary. Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau wrote in his book’s preface, that his objective was to create a common minhag. He activated in the decades that followed the Black Death (1348–1350) and the ensuing destruction of most of the Jewish communities of Germany: “….scholars became so few… I saw localities where there were no more than two or three persons with a real knowledge of local custom.”
The book was well accepted among German and Polish Jewry. Some additions were made by a Hungarian scholar, whose identity is not certain, and were added in the printed edition of the book. The first edition was printed in Venice in 1566, and has been frequently republished often as an appendix to the orthodox prayer book. A German translation by Simon Guenzburg (Mantua, 1590) has been reprinted several times.