A non-functional hand grenade discovered Sunday morning near two synagogues in Vienna’s Leopoldstadt district led to a large-scale police response. The grenade, an old Soviet F1 model from the 1970s, was wrapped in a white cloth and left in a building entrance on Tempelgasse, directly across from the places of worship.
The object was spotted by a staff member of one of the synagogues, who immediately notified authorities. Police cordoned off the area and deployed a bomb disposal unit as a precaution. Specialists safely removed the device and later confirmed it contained no explosives and was not capable of detonation.
Investigators have found no evidence so far indicating a direct link between the grenade and the synagogues, and no accompanying threat letter or message has been discovered. Nevertheless, due to the sensitive location, the domestic intelligence service was brought in to assess the situation.
The origin and motive behind the placement of the defunct explosive remain unclear, and the incident is under ongoing investigation.
Tempelgasse holds historical significance as the former site of Vienna’s largest synagogue, the Leopoldstädter Tempel, destroyed during the Nazi era. Today, the area is home to two active synagogues and a support center for Holocaust survivors and their descendants.
