The Jewish Museum Meran narrates the development of the Jewish community in Meran. The establishment of the Königswarter Foundation in Meran in 1872 was an important first step.

Meran was a frequently visited health ressort of international reputation. The imperial family, aristocrats and well-known personalities sojourned in Meran, and Jewish infrastructure attracted even more tourists, artists and scientists. Among the most famous guests were Sigmund Freud, Stefan Zweig, Arthur Schnitzler or Franz Kafka, who in April and May 1920 was treated by the chief physician of the Jewish sanatorium Josef Kohn from Prague.

The collapse of the Fascist Regime on 25 July 1943 and the armistice of Italy with the Alliied Forces on 8 September 1943 brought the complete annihilation of teh Jewish community in Meran. On 16 September 1943, 25 Jewish inhabitants of Meran, among them the well-known doctor Ludwig Balog, Jenny Vogel, who kept a kosher restaurant, and the merchant Moritz Götz, were taken prisoners and were deported to the concentration camp Reichenau near Innsbruck. In many places in Italy refugees from Merano were seized and deported.