Merchingen Jewish Cemetery
The Jüdische Friedhof Merchingen is a Jewish cemetery in Merchingen , a district of Ravenstein in the Neckar-Odenwald district in northern Baden-Württemberg . It is a protected cultural monument .
history
The Jewish community in Merchingen originally buried their dead in the Jewish cemetery in Berlichingen and Bödigheim . The desire to have their own cemetery was denied to the Jews of Merching until the early 19th century. After the Napoleonic Wars, Merchingen became part of Baden as a result of the redesign of the German southwest, while Berlichingen became part of Württemberg. The Baden government then approved the construction of its own cemetery in 1809. Baron Götz von Berlichingen zu Merchingen offered the necessary land on the Wurmberg near the road to Ballenberg . The mountainous forest property was not agriculturally usable and the purchase price was certainly a welcome compensation for the loss of the share of the Merching Jews in the maintenance of the Berlichingen Jewish cemetery, which the barons fought over for some time.
On May 24, 1810, the first burial took place in the new cemetery. The upper part of the cemetery was initially occupied and then, over time, expanded down the slope towards the street that was built in the 19th century in its current course. It finally comprised 50.61 ares. The wall around the cemetery was built in 1901 after a wooden fence had previously been sufficient. On September 28, 1938, Jonas Heß (or Hess) was the last to be buried in the cemetery. There were a total of 618 burials. In addition to Jews from Merchingen, around 40 Jews from Hüngheim, Osterburken, Bödigheim, Böblingen and Tauberrettersheim were also buried in the cemetery. Due to the terrain, the gravestones are not traditionally oriented to the east, but to the southwest. The older tombstones in the upper part of the cemetery are made of local stone, the younger tombstones are partly made of marble or granite. As a special feature, some of the tombstones have German inscriptions in Hebrew script.
Today there are still 368 adult tombstones and 15 children's tombstones , some of which are weathered or have crumbled. The cemetery never had a Tahara house , instead the ritual washing of the dead was carried out at the mikveh on the Kessach.
When the Jewish institutions were sold to the Merchingen community during the Nazi era in 1940, the cemetery was not calculated. In return, the community pledged to look after the cemetery for 30 years. Presumably because of this agreement, the cemetery also escaped the desecrations that took place in many other places. However, during the occupation of Merchingen on April 4, 1945, the cemetery was damaged by American tank fire, as the Americans suspected German soldiers in the cemetery.
The cemetery will continue to be maintained by the municipality of Merchingen and is now a listed building .
See also
literature
- Joachim Hahn and Jürgen Krüger : Synagogues in Baden-Württemberg . Volume 2: Joachim Hahn: Places and Facilities . Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1843-5 , pp. 386-389 ( Memorial Book of Synagogues in Germany . Volume 4).
- Benjamin Nir: The Jewish cemetery in Ravenstein-Merchingen. A documentation . Published by the city of Ravenstein 2004. (without ISBN) [not evaluated]
- Walter Brecht: The Jewish cemeteries in Hüngheim and Merchingen. Part 2: The Merching Jewish Cemetery . In: Badische Heimat 2004. Heimatkalender for Neckartal, Odenwald, Bauland and Kraichgau , Heidelberg 2004, pp. 98-100.
Web links
- Jewish cemetery Merchingen at the central archive for research into the history of Jews in Germany
- Merchingen Jewish cemetery near Alemannia Judaica
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 24 '4 " N , 9 ° 30' 54" E