Old Jewish Cemetery (Lechenich)

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Memorial plaque on the old Jewish cemetery in Lechenich

The Old Jewish Cemetery Lechenich is a Jewish cemetery in Lechenich , a district of Erftstadt in the Rhein-Erft district ( North Rhine-Westphalia ). The cemetery is located at An der Schleifmühle . Like all Jewish cemeteries in the urban area of ​​the city of Erftstadt, the cemetery is owned by the Cologne Synagogue Community , and the city of Erftstadt is responsible for maintaining the cemeteries.

The old cemetery is a long, tree-lined area between Weltersmühle in the east and Vilskaul in the west. It was formerly - as prescribed - outside the city walls in an undeveloped area. The elector of Cologne had given the land to the Jews as a burial place in return for an annual rent. It was used by the Lechenich Jewish community before 1700 . In 1861 she bought the cemetery from the owner at the time. Since the cemetery was fully occupied around 1890 - Jewish graves are being created without any time limit - it was closed and a new cemetery was set up on Römerhofweg .

There are still seven tombstones on the 1345 m² site. The oldest gravestone ( Mazewa ) is from Baruch, who died in 1689, the son of the Lechenich horse dealer Jakob Cahen.

After the Second World War, the cemetery was very neglected. The planned closure by the city administration in 1949 failed due to an objection from the synagogue community in Cologne. Between 1986 and 1988 a group of young people worked with the adult education center to put the cemetery in order. At the western entrance there is a memorial stone on the unfenced area.

literature

  • Elfi Pracht : Jewish cultural heritage in North Rhine-Westphalia. Part I. Cologne district . Cologne 1997 (Contributions to the architectural and art monuments in the Rhineland, Vol. 34.1), ISBN 3-7616-1322-9 , pp. 186-187.
  • Heidi and Cornelius Bormann : home on the Erft . The rural Jews in the synagogue communities Gymnich, Friesheim and Lechenich. Erftstadt 1993. ISBN 3-9802650-3-X .

Web links

Commons : Old Jewish Cemetery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Landesarchiv NRW Düsseldorf holdings Kurköln II 5925 and Kurköln IV 5051-5050
  2. ^ Heidi and Cornelius Bormann; Home on the Erft. The rural Jews in the synagogue communities Gymnich, Friesheim and Lechenich, Erftstadt 1993. Page 168 and Page 377-380

Coordinates: 50 ° 47 ′ 55 "  N , 6 ° 45 ′ 41"  E