Jewish cemetery (Heinsheim)

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In autumn (November 2018)
In spring (April 2014)
Early winter (December 2017)

The Jewish cemetery Heinsheim is a well-preserved Jewish association cemetery in Heinsheim , a district of Bad Rappenau ( Heilbronn district , Baden-Württemberg ). It is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in southwest Germany.

At the cemetery , located outside the village next to the forest in Won Schlierbach is, there are 1,137 grave stones for Jews from Hein and in the area who have died since the 16th century to the 1937th The oldest tombstone that can be dated today is from 1598.

history

Tombstones up close
Lion figures are a symbolism often found here on the old tombstones

The Jews from Heinsheim and the surrounding area buried their dead in the Jewish cemetery in Heinsheim since the 16th century. It was used as a burial place not only by the Heinsheim Jewish community , but also by another 25 Jewish communities in the area. The cemetery was an important source of income for the local rule in Heinsheim , on whose grounds the cemetery was located, for which 10 guilders per year in the early 18th century and 12 guilders of hereditary interest from 1766 onwards were to be paid. Additional payments were due every 50 years. Likewise, a death benefit had to be paid to the local authorities for each burial. The cemetery was initially fenced and walled in 1718. The taxes to the manor were replaced in 1857 when the cemetery came into the ownership of the Heinsheim Funeral Congregation.

The cemetery has been expanded several times over the centuries and today covers an area of ​​10,764 square meters. The gravestones are mainly made of regional Keuper sandstone .

During the time of National Socialism , the political community should not only acquire the Jewish cemetery, but also level it and use it for agriculture. In 1944, for example, a purchase agreement was concluded with the Reich Association of Jews in Germany , but it was not entered in the land register. Therefore the graves remained untouched. Even the wrought-iron gate was neither dismantled nor used for armaments purposes as ordered. In the 1950s the cemetery was cleared of brush and forest trees were planted.

The gravestones in the cemetery, especially those from the Baroque period , are characterized by a variety of symbols. Among other things, there are symbols such as the hand of God , Shabbat bread and Shabbat candlesticks, lions, angel heads, hourglasses, hearts and the open book.

See also: Jewish cemeteries in Kraichgau

literature

  • Monika Preuß: ... but the crown of the good name towers over her. Jewish presentations of honor in the 18th century in Kraichgau. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-018728-7 ( Publications of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg. Series B, Research . Volume 160). [using an unpublished documentation of the Jewish cemetery in Heinsheim: Monika Preuß: The Jewish cemetery in Bad Rappenau-Heinsheim. Unpublished basic documentation of the State Monuments Office, 1997]
  • Wolfram Angerbauer , Hans Georg Frank: Jewish communities in the district and city of Heilbronn. History, fates, documents . Heilbronn district, Heilbronn 1986 ( series of publications by the Heilbronn district . Volume 1), pp. 101-109
  • Michael Konnerth: The Jewish cemetery near Bad Rappenau-Heinsheim . Spa and clinic administration Bad Rappenau, Bad Rappenau 1999.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Konnerth (1999), pp. 1, 3, 4, 7
  2. ↑ Joachim Hahn: Jewish cemeteries in southwest Germany at the central archive for researching the history of Jews in Germany

Coordinates: 49 ° 15 ′ 54.5 ″  N , 9 ° 7 ′ 25 ″  E