Old Jewish cemetery Niederursel

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Old Jewish cemetery, memorial stone

There were two Jewish cemeteries in Frankfurt-Niederursel . In the era of National Socialism both were cleared. Today, memorial stones remind of the earlier use.

Jewish community in Niederursel

On February 1, 1695, the Heddernheimer (there had been a Jewish community in Heddernheim for a long time), Jude Joseph Weiler, received the right to live in Niederursel in return for payment of 5 Reichstalers to the two lords. He ran a brandy distillery . After the real division in 1714, the settlement of Jews was permitted in the Solms half of the village, but not in the Frankfurt half.

In 1740 the Jewish community consisted of 10 men and in 1777 of 17 families. The number of Jews grew rapidly in the period that followed. In 1811 130 Jews lived in the Solm half, which made up a third of the population. In 1848 a synagogue was built on the Alt-Niederursel 3 property . In the period that followed, the number of Jews fell again. In 1857, 84 Jews were still living in Niederursel. In 1865 the community was so small that it was dissolved. The synagogue was given to the evangelical community, which built the school for small children there in 1910. In 1898 13 Jews were still counted.

Old Jewish Cemetery

World icon Since the first half of the 18th century there was a Jewish community in Niederursel, which in 1720 acquired a piece of land outside the village for its own cemetery. The property with a size of 10.84 acres is located on Oberurseler Weg about 200 meters north of the Zum Lahmen Esel excursion restaurant .

New Jewish cemetery

New Jewish cemetery

World icon In 1850, the civil parish bought a 1¾ acre plot of land from the Count of Solz in exchange to build the village's new cemetery. The application by the Jews to use a demarcated section as a Jewish cemetery was rejected in 1850, especially by the Frankfurt part of the village.

After the old cemetery had become too small, the Jewish community acquired another piece of land 700 meters further outside the village, also on Oberurseler Weg and directly on the route of today's U3 subway line . This area with a size of 8.18 ares was used as a cemetery from 1876.

Destruction and remembrance

Both cemeteries were destroyed and cleared during the National Socialist era. Today both former cemeteries are open spaces surrounded by a fence. A reference stone (“Old Jewish Cemetery”) reminds of the previous use. The inscription is the same in both cemeteries. There are no more tombstones left. The maintenance of the cemetery area is carried out by the city.

The destruction of the new Jewish cemetery was also a preparation for the construction of the Urselbach bridge of today's A5 over the Urselbach . The cemetery is right next to the motorway, which is about 30 meters high on the bridge.

Gravestone discovery 2018

In 2018 a walker in Oberstedten found a block of stone in the undergrowth that turned out to be the tombstone of Jakob Grünbaum (born January 18, 1885 in Niederursel; † July 18, 1910). This was probably used as part of the foundations of a garden hut after the Jewish cemetery in Niederursel had been cleared. The stone was moved back to the Jewish cemetery in Niederursel.

literature

  • Manfred Gerner: Niederursel, Mittelursel: chronical records of a village, 1976, page 107-112
  • City of Frankfurt am Main: The cemetery guide , March 2012
  • Klaus Meier-Ude / Valentin Senger: Die Jewish Friedhöfe in Frankfurt, 3rd edition, 2004, ISBN 3-936065-15-2

Web links

Commons : Old Jewish Cemetery (Niederursel)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : New Jewish Cemetery (Niederursel)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A testimony to Jewish life; in: Taunuszeitung from October 6, 2018, p. 13