Jewish cemeteries in Trier

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Old Jewish cemetery in Trier

Between the Middle Ages and the 20th century, three Jewish cemeteries were built in Trier . Only a few tombstones have survived from the medieval cemetery . The Jewish cemetery was laid out in Weidegasse between 1620 and 1650. It is located in Trier-Süd in the Straßenspitz between Gilbertstraße and Weidegasse. Over 500 tombstones have been preserved; The most important graves are those of Mordechai Halevi ben Schmuel Postelberg (died October 24, 1804) and Abraham Mosche ben Heschel Lwow (died 1788), the grandfather and great-grandfather of Karl Marx . After the cemetery could no longer be expanded, it was closed in 1922. Since this year the Jewish community has been using a section in Trier's main cemetery.

Medieval cemetery at today's cattle market

Viehmarktthermen, the remains of the wall of the Capuchin monastery are on the left in the background

Location The first verifiable Jewish cemetery was east of theSt. Antonius Churchon part of today's cattle market. He was there until the expulsion of the Jewish community in 1418. In thehistorical lexicon of settlement andfield names inthe Moselle region, Jüdemerstraße is listed as Judenmauerstraße (Latin:juxta Jude mura). TheoldJewish cemetery wasat thisJewish wall. The former Jüdemerstrasse began at today'sSparkasse Trierand extended towards theViehmarktthermen. Nearby was the medievalCapuchin monastery, the exposed walls ofwhich can be viewedin theViehmarktthermenMuseum.

In the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier there are tombs and fragments of eleven Hebrew stone inscriptions from the Middle Ages, which belonged to ten gravestones. Five of them were salvaged from the cattle market during sewer work in 1903. Some gravestones with Hebrew inscriptions were found during excavations on the wall of Jüdemerstraße in 1911 and 1912, and another stone was discovered during road works to cover a canal. A part of the preserved tombstones was probably built into the later monastery wall of the Capuchin monastery. Some of the tombstones have been on display in the permanent exhibition of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Trier since October 2009.

Jewish cemetery on Weidegasse

location

history

In the background the wall to Gilbertstrasse
In the foreground partially sunken tombstones between 1780 and 1830, the two columns are the grave monuments for Ester (1799–1849) and Isaak (1795–1872) Gumprich, behind them the monumental tomb of Meir Bernkastel (d. 1837) and his wife Jendel Wetzlar (died 1832)

investment

The cemetery had to be rebuilt around 1620 when, after the expulsion in the 15th century, large numbers of Jews had settled in Trier. They had to purchase a piece of land outside the city gates to bury their dead. The purchase was presumably made before 1652 and is documented in the credit register from 1651/52. The first plant covered an area of ​​1066 square meters. This was the part of the cemetery on today's Gilbertstrasse. In the period that followed, it was expanded several times. At the beginning of the 19th century, a neighboring property was purchased and the facility was enlarged to 1,620 square meters. After 1886 the cemetery got its current size of 3481 square meters. In 1827 the cemetery property, which had previously been in an open field, was fenced in with a wall. The city maps from this time show only a few houses there. Only gradually did the development become denser, and by 1915 the cemetery was completely surrounded by houses. It was fully occupied and could not be expanded. During the First World War , the former Mittelweg had to accommodate graves due to a lack of space. In 1920 the Jewish community decided to move the cemetery to the area of ​​the municipal cemetery in the north of the city. In 1922 the cemetery on Weidegasse was closed.

time of the nationalsocialism

During the Nazi era , the cemetery remained almost untouched. However, all metal parts such as metal letters and iron frames for the iron collection were removed . In a corner of the area, behind bushes, there is an air raid shelter that was used as a shelter by the residents of the surrounding houses during World War II . During the bombing of Trier, numerous stones were damaged by bombs.

After the Second World War

In the post-war period, the cemetery was desecrated several times, despite the high surrounding walls. In 1982 strangers smeared the cemetery gate with anti-Semitic slogans. In 1983 30, 1992 12 and 1995 16 tombstones were knocked over and damaged. Some trees were knocked down in a severe storm in 1987. This destroyed several tombstones and tombstones. During the reconstruction, the inscriptions of two graves were exchanged. Other stones were attached to their base the wrong way round.

Significant tombstones

Uri, son of David Mordechai Jakohen, 1686, the oldest surviving gravestone

446 tombstones have been preserved in the Jewish cemetery. With some, the writing is no longer legible, others have sunk more or less deeply into the ground. The oldest surviving tombstone dates from 1686 from the grave of Uri ben David Mordechai Hakohen.

Gravestones from different eras

One of the most fundamental Israelite beliefs, the inviolability of the rest of the dead, means that graves and tombs are preserved for centuries and Jewish cemeteries extend over generations, while in Christian cemeteries individual graves or entire grave fields are cleared after a period of rest has expired. There are tombstones in this cemetery from the entire occupation period from the end of the 17th century to around 1920.

“Because all people are equal in death”, until the middle of the 18th century the sandstone tombstones all had the same shape with an inscription in Hebrew. Rabbis graves were often decorated with ornaments . Many of the tombstones appear to have sunk in due to the increased soil level from humus input. During the inventory from 1992–1995, the tombstones were temporarily lifted, photographed and returned to their original location.

With the Haskala , the time of the Jewish Enlightenment from 1770 to 1880, the Jewish emancipation and assimilation , the Jews began to erect splendid tombs similar to those in Christian cemeteries of that time.

  • Isidor Simon, d. 1844

  • Ester Gumprich, d. 1849

  • Sabina Kaufmann died in 1889

  • Jacob Schloß, d. 1883

Until around 1900, the gravestones were mostly made of sandstone broken from the Upper Moselle . At the beginning of the 20th century, the much more weather-resistant marble prevailed , first with plates for lettering and later for the entire tombstone. The originally exclusively Hebrew inscriptions were first supplemented by the name of the deceased in Latin script. Bilingual gravestones followed in German and Hebrew, and finally the Hebrew texts disappeared in favor of a purely German-language labeling.

  • Graves from the late 19th century in the area of ​​the last cemetery expansion

  • Henriette Simon died in 1894

  • Isodor Bach died in 1910

  • Julie Thal, d. 1921

Gravestones of the ancestors of Karl Marx

Rabbi grave of Mordechai Halevi ben Schmuel Postelberg d. 1804, the grandfather of Karl Marx
Rabbi grave of Abraham Mosche ben Heschel Lwow d. 1788, the great-grandfather of Karl Marx

To the left of the entrance is a group of four gravestones, somewhat separated from other gravestones. The two stones at the front show through their careful processing that they were set for particularly important people. It can be seen from the almost identical shape and ornamentation that they are related to one another. These are the tombs of a grandfather and a great-grandfather of Karl Marx (his father converted to the Protestant faith). Furthermore, the graves of Karl Marx's great aunt and grandmother have been preserved.

The inscription on the larger stone for Mordechai Hallevi (also called Marx Levi), Karl Marx's paternal grandfather, translates as follows: “This is where the great man, the learned and universal Lord, our teacher and master, was buried; a venerated saintly scholar was the famous priest of high descent, Mordechai Hallevi, the son of our teacher Samuel Pastelburg, the memory of a righteous person was a blessing. For 35 (years) he was chairman of the court in Trier and on the paths of eternity and someone who weighs with the scales of justice, from his youth, and (also) his (own) deeds from his awakening until this day it was completed according to heavenly counsel on the 4th day of the week, the 19th Marcheschwan of the year 565 of the (small) calendar here in Trier; and he was buried on the same day with sorrow and weeping for him as it should be. May his soul rest with the rest of the righteous and the righteous (women) who are in the Garden of Eden. - And may you rise to your inheritance at the end of the days! ”The date of death corresponds to October 24, 1804.

The grave inscription on the smaller and older stone for Moses Abraham Lwów, the great-grandfather of Karl Marx and father-in-law of Mordechai Hallevi translates as follows: “Here is buried the great man, the learned and universal Lord, a priest of high descent, Abraham Mose, the son of the great Gaon, the revered Heschel Lwów, may the memory of a righteous person be a blessing! He lives forever! - And he used to weigh with the scales, with the scales of justice, from his youth, and (also) his (own) deeds from his awakening until the day of the beginning of the month from (the year) 548 of ( small) calendar. - And you may rest and you may arise to your inheritance at the end of days! ”The date of death corresponds to August 5, 1788.

Soldier killed in World War I

At the entrance to the cemetery, to the right of the end of the stone pavement, a tombstone from 1918 bears the following inscription: “Here rests in peace our unforgettable only son, Siegfried Wolff, lieutenant in the reserve and company commander in the 296 infantry regiment, knight of the iron cross, 2nd and 1st class , born on January 27, 1893, died in the service of his beloved fatherland on June 4, 1918. His parents Max Wolff and Alwine née Cahn. “Max Wolff, the father of the war dead, was deported to Theresienstadt in 1942 at the age of 75 . He died there on August 31, 1942.

conservation

The Jewish cemetery on Weidegasse survived the war, albeit in a very battered condition. According to an agreement with the Jewish religious community, the municipal cemetery office has taken care of the grave and restored it since 1973. In 2002 all tombstones were photographed and all inscriptions were documented. The result of this work was published by Annette Haller in the book The Jewish Cemetery on Weidegasse in Trier . The cemetery is accessible as part of guided tours (organized by the Trier Tourist Office in cooperation with the Jewish community).

Jewish cemetery in the main cemetery in Trier

Location The new Jewish cemetery inTrier's main cemetery, bought by the Jewish community in 1920, was originally four times the size of today's Jewish burial ground, but after 1945 the community, which consisted of only a few survivors of persecution, left most of what was intended for future expansion unoccupied area of ​​the city of Trier for the general cemetery. The remaining burial ground is in the northwestern part of the cemetery area. From 1921 to 1941 136 adults and 15 children were buried there. From 1945 to 1988, 30 new graves were added. Currently (January 2009) there are 109 graves. Since, according to Jewish tradition, no graves can be relocated, some gravestones from the early 20th century with stylistic features of Art Nouveau or Classicism have been preserved. Due to this rich collection of stone witnesses, the Jewish part of the cemetery has meanwhile reached its capacity limit. This is also due to the fact that the Jewish community has received numerous new members since the 1990s through immigration from Eastern Europe, which is also reflected in the design of the new graves (e.g. with Cyrillic inscriptions). In 2012 the Jewish burial ground was therefore expanded.

In the middle of the Jewish burial ground rises a memorial that the Jewish community had erected by the Trier stonemason Melchizedech. It speaks for the consideration of the Jewish community that the German and Hebrew text on this stone monument differ significantly. The German text reads: “In memory of the victims of persecution from Trier and the surrounding area. As a warning to the living. 1933–1945. ”In Hebrew script it says on the back, freely translated into German: In memory of those murdered during the reign of criminal malice from the Holy Community of Trier and the surrounding area. The whole people should hear it and should no longer do evil in the future.

In the immediate vicinity is the memorial for the victims of the tyranny . The monument, erected in 1950 and created by the sculptor Michael Trierweiler, shows in an artistic form a person leaning forward and resting on one knee.

  • Burial ground of the new cemetery

  • The memorial with its Hebrew inscription

  • The memorial with its German inscription

  • Memorial to the victims of the tyranny

literature

  • Eugen Ludwig Rapp: Epitaphs for ancestors of Karl Marx in the Jewish cemetery in Trier. In: Trier magazine for the history and art of the Trier region and its neighboring areas. 33, 1970, ISSN  0041-2953 , pp. 175-182.
  • Reiner Nolden: Jews in Trier. = Data on the history of the Jews in Trier (= exhibition catalogs Trier libraries. 15). Catalog of an exhibition by the City Archives and City Library Trier March - November 1988. City Archives Trier and others, Trier, 1988, ISBN 3-923794-06-1 .
  • Dieter Peters , Martina Strehlen: Jewish burial sites, memorials in Rhineland-Palatinate. In: Sachor. Contributions to Jewish history and memorial work in Rhineland-Palatinate. Vol. 8, No. 21 = Heft 16, 1998, ISSN  0940-8568 , pp. 48-62.
  • Eva-Maria Reuther: The Jewish cemetery in Weidegasse. In: Trierischer Volksfreund , 8./9. September 2001, p.
  • Annette Haller : The Jewish cemetery on Weidegasse in Trier and the medieval Jewish gravestones in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. Paulinus-Verlag, Trier 2003, ISBN 3-7902-1311-X .

Web links

Commons : Jewish cemeteries in Trier  - collection of images

References and comments

  1. ^ Nolden: Jews in Trier. 1988.
  2. ↑ Compare Peters, Strehlen: Jewish burial sites, memorials in Rhineland-Palatinate. In: Sachor. Vol. 8, No. 21 = Heft 16, 1998, pp. 48-62.
  3. ^ Haller: The Jewish cemetery on Weidegasse in Trier. 2003, p. 351.
  4. ↑ A description of the tombstones with pictures can be found in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region: Entry on Jewish cemetery (Jüdemerstraße 28) in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; accessed on March 11, 2016.
  5. ^ Haller: The Jewish cemetery on Weidegasse in Trier. 2003, p. XIV.
  6. ^ Nolden: Jews in Trier. 1988, and Reuther: The Jewish cemetery in Weidegasse. In: Trierischer Volksfreund , 8./9. September 2001.
  7. ^ Haller: The Jewish cemetery on Weidegasse in Trier. 2003, p. XVII.
  8. ^ Haller: The Jewish cemetery on Weidegasse in Trier. 2003, pp. XVIII and 347.
  9. ↑ From the foreword by: Alfred Udo Theobald (ed.): The Jewish cemetery. Witness to history - witness to culture. Badenia, Karlsruhe 1984, ISBN 3-7617-0228-0 .
  10. ^ A b Albert Rauch: Attempt to create a list of ancestors from Karl Marx (= Familienkundliche Blätter. Vol. 5, edition 13, 1974, ZDB -ID 502371-3 ). West German Society for Family Studies - Trier District Group, Trier 1974, ( digitized version ).
  11. ↑ Compare Rapp: Epitaphs for ancestors of Karl Marx in the Jewish cemetery in Trier. In: Trier magazine for the history and art of the Trier region and its neighboring areas. 33, 1970, pp. 175-182. - In abbreviated form with pictures of grave stones and in the culture database region Trier: entry to grave stone of the grandfather of Karl Marx in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ..
  12. ↑ Entry on old Jewish cemetery in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; accessed on March 11, 2016.
  13. ^ Haller: The Jewish cemetery on Weidegasse in Trier. 2003.
  14. ↑ https://www.trier-info.de/fuehrungen-fuer-gruppen/fuehrungen-synagoge-und-ueber-alten-juedischen-friedhof
  15. ↑ Information from Trier City Administration, Main Cemetery Administration, January 2009.
  16. ↑ Public tour of the main cemetery in Trier by the cemetery gardener Mr. Tholl, 2002
  17. ↑ לזכרון \ הרוגי מלכות זדון \ מק"ק טריר והסביבה \ וכל העם ישמעו ויראו ולא יזידון עוד The last sentence is a quote from Devarim ( Dtn 17.13  EU ).
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on January 21, 2009 .