The

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

of Kleinbardorf began operations in 1574 on the so-called ''Steilen'' or ''Wartberg'' southeast of Kleinbardorf, in northern Bavaria. The area is now known only as ''Judenhügel'' (Jewish hills). The cemetery is located within an early Middle Ages ring wall approximately 1.5 Kilometers long.Rhönlexikon
The grounds has a total area of 21,050 square meters.Informationstafel am Jüdischen Friedhof Kleinbardorf In 1987 there were approximately 4400 gravestones and in 1933 there were approximately 20,000 gravestones. The cemetery is the second largest Jewish cemetery in Bavaria, the largest being Munich.Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte
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History

The family history of the Bibra family records 1574 as the beginning of the cemetery under George Christof von Bibra and the fees are spelled out.www.synagogenprojekte.de
In 1696/97 Jospe Neustatt paid for the construction of a Tahara House (mortuary) with a stone roof and a stone ritual purification table. In 1964 it was renovated by the citizens of Kleinbardorf. In 1769, the Jewish community purchased the cemetery and expanded it and by a further land acquisition in 1843 it reached its present size. The cemetery was desecrated in 1925, between 1933 and 1945, in 1957 and again in 1977. The cemetery was renovated. In 1988 the German Government awarded Mr. Hermann the 'Order of Merit' decoration for his maintenance of the cemetery.www.alemannia-judaica.de
/ref> Besides serving Kleinbardorf, it also served 27 neighbouring Jewish communities as a burial ground, including those from Bastheim, Eichenhausen,

Höchheim Höchheim is a municipality in the district of Rhön-Grabfeld in Bavaria in Germany. Höchheim consists of the following villages: Gollmuthhausen, Höchheim, Irmelshausen Irmelshausen is a village in the municipality of Höchheim in the ...

, Kleineibstadt, Königshofen, Poppenlauer, Rödelmaier, Trappstadt,

Unsleben Unsleben is a municipality in the district of Rhön-Grabfeld in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Unsleben is located in the Main-Rhön area. Near its south-east fringes, the brook Els flows into the stream Streu. History Unsleben was menti ...

, Massbach and Oberlauringen. The burial register from 1759 to 1938 is still in existence today, as are chronicles of burials between 1800 and 1938.

Local Jewish population locations and trends

Women’s graves

Right of the southwest entrance is a section for women who died in childbirth.

Memorial

In the cemetery there is a

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

for Jewish fallen of the World War I.

Gallery

File:Judenhügel Kleinbardorf 006.jpg, Ringwall on the perimeter of the cemetery File:Kleinbardorfcem0002.jpg, view from a hot air balloon File:Judenhügel Kleinbardorf 044.jpg, Mortuary or Tahara House File:Judenhügel Kleinbardorf 045.jpg, Inscription acknowledging the donation of the Tara House File:Judenhügel Kleinbardorf 033.jpg, Memorial for Jewish dead

References

External links

{{Commons category, Jewish cemetery Kleinbardorf
Jüdischer Friedhof Kleinbardorf
bei www.alemannia-judaica.de

Literature

* WILHELM FRHR. VON BIBRA, ''Beiträge zur Familien Geschichte der Reichsfreiherrn von Bibra, Zweiter Band'' (vol. 2), 1882; page 394 Footnote
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Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf Kleinbardorf Protected areas of Bavaria Buildings and structures in Rhön-Grabfeld Cemetery vandalism and desecration 1574 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire