The Zwi Perez Chajes Lodge in Vienna was established in 1961.

Zwi Perez Chajes was born into a long line of Rabbis in 1876 in Brody (Galicia), a stronghold of Hassidism and Haskala. He studied in a yeshiva led by his uncle, then went to the German high school. In parallel, he followed oriental studies and attended the Rabbinical Seminary.

He became a Professor at the University of Florence and then a Rabbi in Genoa, and when the Chief Rabbi of Vienna, Güdemann died in 1918, Chajes took his place.

In 1922, this man of culture, an excellent speaker and zealous Zionist, joined the Eintracht Lodge of B’nai B’rith.

With a keen interest in youth, he founded the Jewish School, which, after his death, was named the Chajes School.