Jewish cemetery (Braunschweig)

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Mourning hall by Georg Lübke

The Jewish cemetery in Braunschweig is located on Helmstedter Straße . The cemetery was created in 1895 and borders the main Protestant cemetery and the city ​​cemetery . The Jewish mourning hall is on top of it. It replaced the historic Jewish cemetery on Hamburger Strasse . There are around 250 tombstones on the 5,334 m² facility. The cemetery belongs to the Braunschweig Jewish Community , which has its parish hall and synagogue on Steinstrasse.

history

After the remaining areas of the Jewish cemetery on Hamburger Straße became smaller and smaller and the old grave sites had to remain untouched according to Jewish religious law , the Jewish community of Braunschweig built a new cemetery on Helmstedter Straße behind Moritzburg in 1895, which was then still an Israelite cemetery was designated. It was created directly on the extension of the Protestant central cemetery (today's main cemetery) from 1887. In doing so, they complied with the request of the city council of Braunschweig, who had previously approached the Jewish and Catholic community with the suggestion that their burial places should be adjacent to the central cemetery. The close proximity of these cemeteries of different denominations also reflects the liberal spirit that prevailed in Braunschweig and the Jewish community there at the end of the 19th century. The previous cemetery on Hamburger Strasse had around 900 grave sites and was closed in 1910. The new property had a size of 10,124 m². The administration of the cemetery was initially taken over by the main cemetery, later this task was taken over by the Jewish community itself.

Memorial plaque for the Braunschweig soldiers of the Jewish faith who died in the First World War .

The Jewish cemetery was expanded from 1908 to 1909 and landscaped in 1909 by the architect Georg Lübke (1859–1924). There was also an area of ​​4,473 m². The cemetery chapel designed by Georg Lübke was built from 1910 to 1914. This chapel in the form of a central dome with a mourning hall and natural stone facade was built with the support of the Jewish industrialist Max Jüdel . In 1938 the interior of the cemetery chapel was destroyed by the Hitler Youth . When in 1939 graves in the local cemetery had to give way due to a widening of Hamburger Strasse 90, they were reburied with their gravestones in the Jewish cemetery in Helmstedter Strasse.

A decree of the Reich Ministry of the Interior from 1941 allowed the cities to purchase unused land from Jewish owners. Thereupon the city of Braunschweig bought the previously unused area of ​​the Jewish cemetery with a contract dated March 7, 1941 (9,263 m²). The community lost the eastern part of the cemetery. Shortly thereafter, a grave field was created on this expropriated part, where war victims, slave laborers and fallen soldiers were buried. This cemetery is now known as the “ Ehrenfriedhof 1939–1945 Part II” and is part of the city cemetery. On an area east of the Jewish chapel there is a grave field on which the ashes of killed Jews were scattered between 1944 and 1945, who had to do forced labor in the subcamp Schillstrasse , in the jute spinning mill and in the subcamp SS riding school . There is now a memorial with a memorial stone.

On October 6, 1953, a settlement agreement was signed between the city of Braunschweig and the Jewish Trust Corporation (JTC). As a result, the sale of property by the Braunschweig Jewish Community was deemed not to have taken place. The Jewish Trust Corporation received the land, but sold this occupied land to the city. An area of ​​5,334 m² remained with the Jewish Community and was given to it on August 12, 1959. The cemetery was renovated from 1954 to 1955 and from 1978 to 1979. On November 16, 1958, the memorial stone for the victims of the Jewish community under National Socialist rule was inaugurated north of the chapel.

On June 11, 1981, the Jewish cemetery chapel was inaugurated again after extensive restoration work. The city of Braunschweig bore the cost of the restoration. In 2008 and 2009 the building was renovated with the help of the Richard Borek Foundation .

Well-known burials and tombs

There are also monuments and plaques in the cemetery:

  • Memorial stone for the victims of the Jewish community under National Socialist rule (Holocaust memorial): The memorial for the murdered Jews was erected on November 16, 1958 in the presence of the state rabbi of Württemberg Dr. Block unveiled and financed by the city of Braunschweig. The inscription on the erratic block reads: “My blood freezes because of the slain of my people. Dedicated to the memory of our brothers and sisters who fell victim to the Nazi tyranny. "
  • Memorial plaque of the fallen Jews 1914–1918: It was created by Philipp Erlanger (1870–1934) from Elm limestone for the Braunschweig Jews who fell in World War I and is on the wall of the chapel.

Outside in the city cemetery next to the chapel there is a memorial for Jewish forced laborers with a memorial plaque. The inscription on the plaque reads: "Because they were Jews, they were deported from their homeland to work and die for an inhuman system (1944-1945)."

Tombstones

  • Max Aronheim

  • Adolf Frank and wife

  • EM lilies and woman

  • Nathan Littauer

  • Norbert Regensburger

  • Gutmann Rülf and wife

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Jewish Cemetery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ehrenfriedhof 1939-1945 II ( Memento from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) on gedenkstaette-friedenskapelle.de
  2. ↑ Peter Schulze: With shield of David and menorah. Pictures of Jewish graves in Braunschweig, Peine, Hornburg, Salzgitter and Schöningen. Exhibition 1997–2002 , in: Series of publications Regional Trade Union Sheets published by DGB-Region SüdOstNiedersachsen, Hannover 2003, p. 12

Coordinates: 52 ° 15 ′ 21.7 "  N , 10 ° 33 ′ 43.3"  E