Jewish cemetery (Salzgitter)
The historic Jewish cemetery in Salzgitter-Bad is the only Jewish cemetery in the area of today's Salzgitter . The cemetery was laid out in 1826 and occupied until 1921.
History of the community
The first evidence of the Jewish population in the former municipality of Salzgitter (today Salzgitter-Bad) is known from the Napoleonic era . Around 1810, around 12 Jews lived there who worked as traders, lottery collectors and later also as merchants. The community celebrated its services in the private rooms of the merchant Levi Bonnheim, after 1837 a separate temple house in today's Gutenbergstrasse could be used for this. Around 1880 there were still around 18 Jews living in Salzgitter, by 1925 their number had dropped to five and in 1937 the Jewish community died out after the last Jews left.
Purchase and location of the cemetery
In 1825, the community applied for a burial site, which traditionally had to be outside the city walls. It is not known where the Jewish community buried their dead beforehand. The city offered a piece of land belonging to the municipality of Salzgitter, which was accepted by the Jews. The property was at the confluence of today's "Tillystrasse" with the street "Hinter dem Salze". The price was 30 thalers and a long lease of 2 thalers for 99 years. On May 24, 1826, the competent Liebenburg office approved the sale of this property.
Description of the cemetery
Today's 687 square meter property is roughly in the shape of a right triangle. It is largely surrounded by a hedge, only in the area of the entrance is this interrupted by a short fence. The entrance used to be in the middle on the south side of the site, today it is on the western corner next to an old linden tree .
- Gravestone No. 6
Front with Hebrew inscription
Reverse with German inscription
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There are still 23 tombstones in the cemetery today . The oldest is dated 1849, the youngest is from 1921. It is not known whether there were burials before 1849. The graves are traditionally laid out in an east-west direction; the dead were buried with their feet facing east. The inscriptions are well preserved on about half of the tombstones. The inscription on seven stones is bilingual, with a German text on the west side and a Hebrew inscription on the east side. Three stones only have Hebrew text on them. Two of the stones are missing or have been removed, the other stones only have a German inscription.
The area was spared from destruction during the Nazi era . Until 1981 the cemetery was looked after by the city of Salzgitter, since then the regional association of the Jewish communities of Lower Saxony has performed this task.
literature
- Horst-Günther Lange: History of the Jews in Salzgitter-Bad from 1800 to after the First World War . In: Geschichtsverein Salzgitter eV (Ed.): Salzgitter Yearbook 1985 . tape 7 , 1985, pp. 29-66 .
- Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): Salzgitter - Past and Present of a German City - 1942-1992 . Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-35573-0 , chap. Jews in Salzgitter , S. 662-664 .
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 2 ′ 36.3 ″ N , 10 ° 22 ′ 9.4 ″ E