“Wine Tax” command issued by the Secret Council [Holy Roman Empire; Present-day Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia]: “Because it has come to the Kaiser’s attention that the Jews have started to do a lot of business with wine in this last year, ‘Handgrafs’* Kayser and […] Blum are asked to conduct house searches of all Jews in Vienna and to request a 6 Schilling surcharge for every bucket [of wine] they find and to deliver [the money] to the ‘War Payment Office.'”** [Researcher’s note: *A translation for the title “Handgraf” could not be found, but may signify an office or royal title.” ** The “War Payment Office” (Kriegszahlamt) was the office that collected money for the ongoing wars.]
Braumüller, Wilhelm: Urkunden und Akten zur Geschichte der Juden in Wien. Erste Abteilung. Allgemeiner Teil 1526-1847. Erster Band. (Wien) 1918. p. 78-79, Researched and Translated by Ziba Shadjaani 2/15/2016