Gelnhausen Jewish cemetery

The Gelnhausen Jewish Cemetery in Gelnhausen in the Main-Kinzig district in Hesse is located southwest of the city center.

Jewish cemetery Gelnhausen, view from the southeast.

View from the southwest.

Wall-shaped raised part in the north near the ship gate.

location

The cemetery is located outside the city's second wall ring, southeast of the ship gate, north of the street Am Escher and near the Kinzig . Executions and burning of witches took place in the Middle Ages on the Escher or Äscher (today Schifftorstraße without no., Flur An der Bleiche ) , the name is derived from Asche . In 1349, during the persecution of the Jews at the time of the Black Death , all Jews in the city were rounded up and burned here; they were probably accused of well poisoning and made responsible for the epidemic.

history

The cemetery was probably created in the late Middle Ages. The oldest datable gravestones date from the 15th century, according to other sources from 1616. Many of the older stones have sunk in or their inscriptions are weathered. Preserved and legible inscriptions are available from the middle of the 18th century.

The last burial took place on March 10, 1938. End of the year lived no more Jews in Gelnhausen, during the November pogroms in 1938 directed the anti-Semitic hatred of the cemetery where reportedly some grave stones were overturned.

investment

The cemetery occupies an area of ​​3353 m². Today, under numerous tall trees, there is a very dense collection of a few hundred tombstones, mostly made of sandstone , often decorated in baroque style. The street-side part facing the ship gate is significantly higher, which indicates either earlier fortifications or a double occupancy. A sandstone wall with a gable end runs around the cemetery. An added gate on the south side bears the year 1825 in the lintel.

literature

• Paul Arnsberg : The Jewish communities in Hesse. Beginning - fall - new beginning. Volume I. Published by the regional association of Jewish communities in Hesse, Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt 1971, ISBN 3-7973-0213-4 , pp. 240–246.
• Waltraud Friedrich: Cultural monuments in Hessen. Main-Kinzig district II.2. Gelnhausen, Gründau, Hasselroth, Jossgrund, Linsengericht, Wächtersbach. Published by the State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen , Theiss, Wiesbaden / Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-8062-2469-6 , pp. 597f. ( Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany ).

Web links

Commons : Jüdischer Friedhof Gelnhausen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Gelnhausen Jewish cemetery near Alemannia Judaica

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Daniel Hanke: The History of the Jews in Gelnhausen 1933-1938 (PDF; 1.8 MB), p. 275
2. ^ W. Friedrich: Cultural monuments in Hessen. Main-Kinzig district II.2. 2011, p. 597.
3. ^ ^{A b} P. Arnsberg: The Jewish communities in Hessen. 1971, p. 244.
4. ↑ Daniel Hanke: The history of the Jews in Gelnhausen 1933-1938 (PDF; 1.8 MB), p. 296
5. ^ Daniel Hanke: The history of the Jews in Gelnhausen 1933-1938 , p. 308
6. ^ W. Friedrich: Cultural monuments in Hessen. Main-Kinzig district II.2. 2011, p. 598.

Coordinates: 50 ° 11 ′ 57.8 "  N , 9 ° 11 ′ 19.5"  E