Old Jewish Cemetery (Fürth)

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Old Jewish cemetery in Fürth, 2011

The old Jewish cemetery is one of two burial places of the Jewish community in Fürth . The cemetery was in use from 1607 to 1936.

location

The cemetery is located in the west of the old town on the slope of the Gänsberg zur Rednitz . Today it has an area of ​​1.7 hectares, making it the largest Jewish cemetery in southern Germany.

history

The cemetery on a colored copper engraving from 1705
Gravestone of the chief rabbi
Salomon Kohn (1739–1819)
in the old Jewish cemetery
Old Jewish cemetery in Fürth, 2011

The first burial for Ascher Anschel Herrlingen took place on November 11th 1607 on the area outside the city and in Bamberg area . Until then, the deceased had to be buried in the cemeteries in Baiersdorf or Schnaittach . In 1906 a new cemetery was created in the north of the city on Erlanger Straße. In the following years there were still a few funerals, the last one dates back to 1936.

During the time of National Socialism in 1934 part of the 2 hectare cemetery was cut off for the expansion of a road and the children's graves located there were reburied. The last funeral for Ella Oettinger took place on April 3, 1936. In 1941, many graves were desecrated when a fire water pond was set up on the east side of the area, which was not necessary due to the nearby Rednitz. The gravestones that were removed were made available to Fürth stonemasons as raw material free of charge. In 1944, the northeastern part of the cemetery with the graves there was destroyed by an Allied air bomb hit.

Today about 6000 of the former 15,000 to 20,000 gravestones are still preserved. The gravestones, which were no longer in their original location after the desecration and the bombing, were set up in the area of ​​the filled-in extinguishing water pond with the front facing west to indicate that they no longer mark a resting place, because gravestones point to resting places to the east .

Biotope

The Old Jewish Cemetery is one of the larger biotopes in downtown Fürth. The old tree population consists of birch , ash , robinia , elm and sycamore and norway maple, among other things .

literature

  • Katrin Bielefeldt: History of the Jews in Fürth. A home for centuries (= historical walks 3). Sandberg-Verlag, Nuremberg 2005, ISBN 3-930699-44-3 .
  • Gisela Naomi Blume: The old Jewish cemetery in Fürth. 1607-2007. History, rites, documentation. Verlag Meyer et al., Scheinfeld et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-89014-280-7 .
  • Barbara Ohm: Fürth. History of the city. Verlag Jungkunz, Fürth 2007, ISBN 978-3-9808686-1-7 .
  • Bernd Windsheimer: History of the City of Fürth. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-55821-4 .

Web links

Commons : Alter Jüdischer Friedhof Fürth  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 28 ′ 38.6 ″  N , 10 ° 58 ′ 56 ″  E