The first proof of Jewish presence in Graz is a tombstone dating from 1304, indicating that Graz had a community with a cemetery. From 1350 until the expulsion in 1438 the Jewish quarter was located in the southeast section of the town, on both sides of the road leading to Hungary and connected by the Bürgerstrasse (Herrengasse till 1490) to the main square. Within this area Jews settled mainly in the “alte Judengasse” and in the Bürgerstrasse. This was thought an excellent location and after the expulsion upper-class Christians settled there.
The centre of the Jewish quarter was the Judengasse (today’s Mesnergasse, Jungferngasse and Frauengasse). At about the crossroad between the Frauengasse into the Stubenberggasse was the Judentürl (Jewish door) in the old city wall. The Jews were expelled in 1439, but resettled from 1447 in the “Neue Judengasse”. The first synagogue (until 1438) was in the old Judengasse, the second (after 1447) in the Herrengasse, opposite the Dominican monastery. Around 1400 there were about 200 Jews in the community; in the second half of the 15th century, there were about 25 Jewish households in Graz with approximately 150 persons.
Most of the Jews were active as moneylenders. One Jewish moneylender also traded in wine which he imported to Styria and sold to Christians. In 1438 the Jews were expelled, and their houses confiscated by Duke Friedrich V. In 1447 they were permitted to settle in Graz again, but in 1496 they were expelled – as all the Jews of Styria – by Emperor Maximilian I. Some Jews from Graz moved to Eisenstadt.