Old Jewish Cemetery (Kolín)

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The old Jewish cemetery

The Old Jewish Cemetery (Czech "Starý židovský hřbitov") in Kolín (German Kolin, older also Cologne on the Elbe), a Czech community in the Okres Kolín district in the Central Bohemian region of Středočeský kraj , was established during the 15th century and until 1887 / Used by the Kolín Jewish community in 1888 . It is one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic and is part of the city's old Jewish ghetto . The area is over 1.1 ha, there are over 2600 tombs.

history

The cemetery is counted among the most important relics of Jewish communities in Bohemia ; the first mentions of the community in Kolín date back to 1376. The cemetery, located on the western edge of the old town on the left bank of the Elbe, has been in use since 1418. It is relatively large (1,128 hectares) and houses 2,693 tombstones ( mazewot ), most of them from the 16th to 19th centuries, the oldest surviving tombstones date from 1492. It was expanded several times, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries ., and 19th century.

As can be seen from the plaque at the entrance to the cemetery, the cemetery was used from 1418 to 1887/1888, after which the New Jewish Cemetery on the right bank of the Elbe in Kolín-Zálabí was in use.

The cemetery

The tombstone of Elijah Maisel from 1621

The cemetery, which is located on the left bank of the Elbe, covers an area of ​​11 276 m², on which there are 2693 tombstones. In the older literature (R. Feder) the oldest tombstone in the cemetery is dated to 1418, in more recent works (S. Petr) to 1492.

The tombstones, mostly made of sandstone (but also of red marble ), are reminiscent of the tombstones in the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague. Right at the entrance is a marble tombstone by Elijah Maisel (died 1621). One of the well-known graves is the resting place of Rabbi Chajim ben Sinaj from 1624, which has similarities to the grave of his uncle Judah Löw (Rabbi Löw, creator of the Golem ) in Prague. One of the well-known gravestones is that of Rabbi Becalel ben Jehuda Löw (died 1599), the son of Judah Löw. In the northern part is the tombstone of Heinrich Teichner (died 1866), the first Czech photographer.

After the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, the Kolín cemetery is considered the second most important monument of its kind in the Czech Republic and is on the list of cultural monuments under the number 20505 / 2–786.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Josef Vávra: Dějiny královského města Kolína nad Labem, JL Bayer, Kolín 1888, 265 pages, online at: ia802700.us.archive.org / ... , page 38
  2. ↑ Starý židovský hřbitov , description on the Hrady.cz portal, online at: hrady.cz / ... , in Czech, accessed on June 6, 2010
  3. ↑ a b c d Starý židovský hřbitov , online at: cestyapamatky.cz /.../ stary ...
  4. ↑ Jiří Fiedler: Kolín , report on the Jewish community in Kolín, online at: holocaust.cz / ...
  5. ↑ Richard Feder, Kolínští Židé , in: Město Kolín, jeho vývoj dějinný, kulturní, obchodní a průmyslový , Kolín 1927, page 21; and Stanislav Petr, Nejstarší židovská kniha města Kolína z let 1598-1729 a správa kolínské židovské obce v tomto období , in: Zuzana Miškovská, Stanislav Petr (et al.), Sborník z historie židů na Kolínsku , page 8; Kolín 1992, page 8; Kolín 1992 both quoted to: Zuzana Věchetová: Židovská obec v Kolíně. Židovští obyvatelé v soupisových pramenech 16.-18. století , Karlova Universita, Prague, 2006 online at: anzdoc.com / ... , page 18, notes 83 and 84
  6. ↑ Články z domova. Kolín - Jeruzalém na Labi , Portal Czech Travel Press (“Association Tchéque des Journalistes et Écrivains du Tourisme”), online at: czechtravelpress.cz / ...

See also

Coordinates: 50 ° 1 ′ 46.8 ″  N , 15 ° 11 ′ 42.5 ″  E

Web links

Commons : Old Jewish Cemetery (Kolín)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files