Jewish cemetery in Währing

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Jewish cemetery in Währing
Tahara house at the main entrance (2006)

The Jewish cemetery in Währing (also: Israelitischer Friedhof Währing ) was the main burial place of the Jewish community in Vienna after its opening in 1784 . In addition to the Sankt Marxer Friedhof , it is the last remaining cemetery in Vienna in the Biedermeier style . After its closure in the 1880s and the partial destruction during the Nazi era , the Jewish cemetery is now closed because the area threatened by decay poses a security risk for visitors, both from the grave monuments and from the vegetation, and related liability issues have not been clarified . A debate has been going on between politicians at federal and state level and experts about the renovation of the cemetery since 2006.

location

Originally the area of ​​the cemetery belonged to the Viennese suburb of Währing . After relocating the area, the cemetery is today, despite its name, not in the 18th district of Währing , but on the other side of the district border in the 19th district of Döbling . The entrance is at Schrottenbachgasse 3.

history

Jewish cemetery in Währing seen from Währinger Park towards the belt
Tomb in the execution of a rhizome
stele
Grave with Hebrew inscription

Due to the sanitary regulations of Joseph II , all cemeteries in Vienna had to be closed within the line wall . Instead of the old local cemeteries, which had often settled around the parish churches , new cemeteries were created outside the line. The Jewish community , which maintained a cemetery in Seegasse ( Roßau ), was also affected by this measure . This Jewish cemetery in Roßau was also closed. For this reason, the Jewish community acquired a two- hectare property next to the newly built General Währinger Friedhof in 1784 and opened the new Jewish cemetery there that same year, separated by a wall. Originally the cemetery only consisted of the part to the west of the entrance, the cemetery was expanded three times to the west, east and north through the purchase of land. By the time the Israelite department at Vienna's central cemetery was completed in 1879, around 8,000 to 9,000 occupied grave sites had been created here. A total of around 30,000 people are believed to have been buried at the Währing cemetery. In contrast to the Jewish cemetery in Roßau, where only Hebrew inscriptions are available, gravestones in Währing are in Hebrew, German and other languages, usually German and Hebrew. Isolated burials in the family tombs continued until the late 1880s. The last documented occupancy of an existing family grave took place in 1911. After that there were no more burials in the cemetery. Around 1900 an avenue of lime trees was planted in the middle of the no longer used cemetery. This is a sign of the strong liberality of the Jewish community in Vienna at the time, as the linden trees planted on the so-called “ priestly graves ” in traditional beliefs remove the separation of these graves from the rest of the surrounding areas.

The neighboring General Währinger Friedhof was closed in the 1920s and converted into Währinger Park . The Jewish cemetery, however, remained because of the Jewish religious laws. During the Nazi era , however, a significant part of the cemetery was destroyed.

After it became known that the continued existence of the cemetery or parts of it was in jeopardy, the Council of Elders of the Jews published an invitation to its members to issue exhumation orders. In 1941, the cemetery office exhumed almost 120 corpses and buried them again at the central cemetery, including important church planters and rabbis, the latter on the recommendation of the council of elders. More than 2000 graves were destroyed by excavation work for a never completed air raid shelter. Members of the religious community recovered the bones from the excavation and, after organizing trucks and gasoline, took them to the central cemetery, where they were buried in a mass grave. The excavated material for the bunker system was used for construction work on Urban-Loritz-Platz . Part of the excavation pit dug for the bunker system was presumably temporarily used as a water pond as a result of the war.

In 1942, the Council of Elders had to exhume around 350 corpses on the instructions of “race researchers” and hand them over to the Natural History Museum in Vienna for examination . The forced return and reburial at the central cemetery took place in 1947. In 1942, the entire site was also expropriated, in which the Jewish community had to forcibly sell the cemetery to the municipality of Vienna.

After the Second World War , the cemetery of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde was returned after tough negotiations, but in return the destroyed part had to be given to the municipality of Vienna. The community then rededicated the plot of land acquired cheaply as grassland into building land and subsequently built the Arthur-Schnitzler-Hof , a prefabricated building from the 1960s. At the same time, the cemetery began to deteriorate rapidly, as the religious community could not afford to keep it. Even after the Republic of Austria committed itself in the Washington Agreement in 2001 to provide support for the preservation and restoration of Jewish cemeteries, no steps were taken to preserve the cemetery. The payments made by the Republic of Austria to the IKG for the maintenance of Jewish cemeteries are used to maintain the two Israelite departments at the Vienna Central Cemetery, and therefore hardly any funds are available for the maintenance of the Jewish cemetery in Währing. Even after the announcement by the Vienna Restitution Commissioner Kurt Scholz that the area would be used in a park-like manner, only rotten trees were felled. At the end of February 2006, after the Vienna Greens demanded that the cemetery be redeveloped, Sepp Rieder ( SPÖ ), then City Councilor for Finance, proposed a foundation solution in which the federal government, the city and private donors should participate. In June 2006, however, Mayor Michael Häupl rather called on the federal government to pay for the renovation and saw any contribution from the federal states at most as a “voluntary contribution”. As a result, no specific measures were taken. Since there was no further restoration of the tree population, further tombstones were destroyed by a wind break ( Hurricane Kyrill ). At the beginning of 2007, the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde estimated the renovation costs at fourteen million euros and planned to convert the caretaker's house into a prayer house. In January 2007, the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde started an initiative with the EDUCULT institute which provides for the publication of a book and a photo calendar as well as an exhibition to save the area. In addition, the previously irregular tours of the cemetery are now offered monthly. On March 2, 2007, the SPÖ and ÖVP finally agreed to a motion by the Greens in the municipal council to have the city of Vienna (Stadtgartenamt) remove the worst damage and dangers in the cemetery. In order to be able to renovate and maintain the area in the long term, however, the municipality of Vienna is relying heavily on federal participation. The President of the National Council, Barbara Prammer, plans to work out a solution for the whole of Austria with a working group made up of representatives from the federal, state and local governments. The Währing district museum organized a special exhibition in cooperation with the Jewish cemetery in Hamburg-Altona from November 2008 to January 2009. In December 2010, the fund for the repair of Jewish cemeteries in Austria was set up to implement the obligations of the Washington Agreement. Volunteers began to regularly remove dead branches and keep the cemetery accessible. In 2018, the fund approved 400,000 euros for the renovation of the cemetery wall and the uncovering of a row of buried graves. In autumn 2019, soldiers of the Federal Army removed undergrowth and growth from the cemetery.

Cemetery complex and graves

Cemetery division

Burial house of the Sephardic Department

If you enter the cemetery through the entrance gate in Schrottenbachgasse, the former farewell hall ( Taharahaus ) is located to the left of the entrance directly on the street . It is a late Classicist building by Joseph Kornhäusel . The building had been walled up on the street side for many years as protection against vandalism, but its basic substance was so well preserved that it was possible to restore it in 2012. To the left of the entrance is the old, original part of the cemetery, which is separated from the part bought later by an avenue of lime trees. In the older part of the cemetery are the graves of historically relevant people such as Fanny von Arnstein and the Epstein family. In the northern area of ​​the cemetery, on both sides of the main avenue, is the Sephardic section. The so-called “priest graves” are located along the main avenue itself. In a newer part of the cemetery, which was created in 1856 through the purchase of land, people from poorer classes were also buried, whose tombstones are much more affected by weathering due to cheaper materials . There is also a section here where toddlers and mothers who died in childbed were buried. The family tombs of respected and ennobled Jews are often located along the cemetery walls.

Sephardic Department

In the 18th century, Jews were in principle not allowed to settle in Vienna. An exception were the Sephardic Jews from the Ottoman Empire , who were permitted to stay as Ottoman subjects by the Peace of Passarowitz and who built the Turkish Temple in 1885 . The Sephardim made Vienna an important center of oriental trade between the Ottoman Empire and Sephardic communities in Amsterdam , Hamburg and Copenhagen . The reference of the Sephardic Jews to the Ottoman Empire is also reflected in the tombs in the Jewish cemetery in Währing. In addition to the oriental architecture and ornamentation of the grave steles, the grave houses in particular have a unique status in Central Europe.

Tombs of important personalities

Tombs of the von Arnstein family

Vandalized tombs of the Arnstein and Eskeles families

Fanny von Arnstein (1758–1818), the daughter of the Berlin rabbi and court factor Daniel Itzig . She married into a wealthy Viennese court factor family. Fanny von Arnstein's husband, Nathan Adam Freiherr von Arnstein (1748–1838), was also buried in the Jewish cemetery until 1941. The banker, wholesaler and diplomat obtained the lifting of the restrictions on housing for Jews.

The bones of Fanny von Arnstein do not appear by name on any of the known exhumation lists and were also not taken to the Natural History Museum for "racial" investigations. In 1947, her remains were almost certainly reburied in a collective grave for eight members of the family.

Epstein-Teixeira de Matto family grave

The family members of the entrepreneur Gustav Ritter von Epstein (1827–1879) were buried in the grave of the Epstein family . Gustav Ritter von Epstein was an important banker who was involved, among other things, in the construction of the Kaiser-Ferdinand-Nordbahn . In 1870 he had the Palais Epstein built on the Ringstrasse , but lost it in the stock market crash of 1873 . He himself was not buried in this family grave, but in the Israelite section of the Central Cemetery, which was built from 1877 to 1879.

Siegfried Philipp Wertheimber's tomb

Egyptian style tomb

The tomb of the well-known “tolerated” Jew Siegfried Philipp Wertheimber (1777–1836) is a valuable tomb with columns in the Egyptian style. Jews who were permitted to stay through individual permits were considered tolerated Jews. These permits were made possible by the tolerance patent of Joseph II. If a Jew had received such a residence permit, numerous people in his household who had been declared family members could also receive residence rights in the city of Vienna. Households of tolerated Jews included up to 200 people.

Königswarter family crypt

Tomb of the von Königswarter family

The family of Jonas Freiherr von Königswarter (1807–1871) is buried in the Königswarter family crypt . As a tolerated Jew, Königswarter had the official title of “kk privileged wholesaler”. Königswarter was a banker and president of the Viennese religious community. His wife Josefine (1811–1861) headed the Israelite women's association.

Other personalities

State of preservation

Gravestones destroyed by rotten branches

Since almost all of the relatives of the buried were either killed in the Holocaust or had to emigrate abroad, there are no more descendants in Vienna who can look after the graves. The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde can only contribute to the maintenance to a small extent due to its limited budget. Since the city of Vienna and the Republic of Austria hardly made funds available for the maintenance of the cemetery, the cemetery is in a very poor state of preservation. Due to the overaged stock of trees and partly open crypts, a visit to the cemetery is currently only possible after signing a waiver of liability vis-à-vis the Jewish community. The costs for establishing safe access to the cemetery are estimated by the President of the Israelite Religious Community Ariel Muzicant and the restitution officer Scholz at 400,000 to 800,000 euros.

Except for a pruning of the old trees, only a few conservation measures have been taken in recent years. Parts of the cemetery are no longer accessible due to the heavy vegetation with bushes and small trees. In addition, the root instinct causes gravestones to be shifted and topple over. Rotten, falling branches and falling trees destroy more gravestones again and again. Environmental influences such as acid rain, frost and vegetation caused severe damage to the grave monuments in the cemetery. Gravestones were also damaged by right-wing radical smearings, which in particular destroyed sandstone surfaces. For this reason, the surrounding walls of the cemetery were secured by the community with barbed wire and broken glass set in concrete.

literature

  • Eva-Maria Bauer (Red.): Währinger Jewish cemetery. Overgrown by oblivion. Published by Educult - thinking and acting in the field of culture. Provincial Library, Weitra 2008, ISBN 978-3-85252-941-7 .
  • Werner T. Bauer: Wiener Friedhofsführer. Exact description of all burial sites together with a history of the Viennese burial system. Falter, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-85439-335-0 .
  • Arthur Goldmann: Supplements to the ten previously published volumes of sources and research on the history of the Jews in Austria (= sources and research on the history of the Jews in Austria 11). Self-published by the Historical Commission, Vienna 1936
  • Martha Keil (ed.): From barons and spirits. A Jewish cemetery tells. Mandelbaum, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-85476-131-0 .
  • The press . Special supplement Kulturdenkmal: A forgotten place in Vienna. September 3, 2005.
  • Patricia Steines: a hundred thousand stones. Grave sites of great Austrians of Jewish denomination on the Vienna Central Cemetery Gate I and Gate IV. Falter, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-85439-093-9 .
  • Tina Walzer : The Währing Jewish cemetery. A photo documentation . In: David. Jewish culture magazine. No. 49, June 2001.
  • Tina Walzer: The Währing Jewish cemetery and its preservation. An inventory . In: David. Jewish culture magazine. No. 69, June 2006.
  • Tina Walzer: The Währing Jewish cemetery. Tour through a ruined cultural monument. Green Club in the City Hall, Vienna 2006 ( PDF; 804 kB ( Memento from March 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive )).
  • Tina Walzer: The Jewish cemetery Währing in Vienna. Historical development, destruction during the Nazi era. Status quo. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2011, ISBN 978-3-205-78318-3 .
  • Hermann Wiessner: The cemeteries. In: Working group “Währinger Heimatbuch” (Ed.): Währing. A home book of the 18th district of Vienna. Self-published, Vienna 1923, pp. 611–639.

Web links

Commons : Israelitischer Friedhof Währing  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ City Hall correspondence of the City of Vienna: Register now: Guided tour of the “Währinger Jewish Cemetery” . November 17, 2008.
  2. ↑ a b c Tina Walzer : The Währinger Jewish cemetery. Tour through a ruined cultural monument. Green Club in the City Hall, Vienna 2006 ( PDF; 804 kB ( Memento from March 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive )).
  3. ↑ Alexia Weiss: Full of secrets . In: Wina - the Jewish city magazine. June 11, 2012.
  4. ↑ a b Since the priesthood in Judaism has not existed since at least modern times, it seems nonsensical to speak of priestly graves. Members of the Kohen tribe can be found in various parts of the cemetery without any separation.
  5. ↑ Tina Walzer: The Jewish cemetery in Währing in Vienna historical development, destruction during the Nazi era, status quo . Böhlau, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-205-78318-3 , p. 71 .
  6. ^ Jewish cemetery: Häupl urges funds . In: Vienna Online. June 29, 2006.
  7. ↑ bz Vienna district newspaper. District edition Währing, edition 02/07, pp. 2–3.
  8. ^ Jewish cemetery saved . In: Vienna Online. January 12, 2007.
  9. ^ Marianne Enigl: Contemporary history: Schandmale . In: profile . March 3, 2007.
  10. ↑ New chance of rescue for the Jewish cemetery . In: The Standard . March 16, 2007.
  11. ↑ City Hall correspondence of the City of Vienna: Exhibition “Jewish Cemeteries in Hamburg and Vienna” . November 26, 2008.
  12. ↑ Marco Schreuder : Jewish cemeteries Währing and Hamburg-Altona in the district museum Währing - and a Häupl inquiry . November 28, 2008.
  13. ↑ About us. In: friedhofsfonds.org , website of the Fund for the Repair of Jewish Cemeteries in Austria. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  14. ↑ 400,000 euros for the Jewish cemetery. In: wien.orf.at . November 24, 2018, accessed May 12, 2019.
  15. ↑ Vanessa Gaigg: Federal Army helps with the renovation of the Jewish cemetery in Währing. In: derstandard.at . November 14, 2019, accessed November 16, 2019.
  16. ^ The Tahara house of the Währing Jewish cemetery in Vienna - a revitalization. Federal Monuments Office, November 13, 2012, accessed on November 16, 2019.
  17. ↑ Patricia Steines: Hundred Thousand Stones. Falter, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-85439-093-9 .
  18. ↑ The Greens force the preservation of the Jewish cemetery in Vienna-Währing . In: The Standard . January 22, 2007.

Coordinates: 48 ° 13 ′ 57 ″  N , 16 ° 21 ′ 4 ″  E

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on March 22, 2007 in this version .