Cemetaries and Educational Trail
The Cemetary of Memmelsdorf (Ufr.)
The Jewish cemetery in Memmelsdorf was established in 1835 and comprises around 113 graves, the last of which dates from 1937. Before 1835, the dead had to be buried at the Jewish cemetery in Ebern, in existence since 1633.
Both cemeteries can be visited as part of a tour. Jewish mourning and burial rituals are covered as well as the symbolism of Jewish gravestones and the history of individual members of the community.
2017 Anna Martin (Salomon-Steinheim-Institut, Essen) did a photographic documentation of all still existing gravestones and a registration of the inscriptions (with translation in German). You find the informations in the data base Epidat
The cemetery for pupils/young people
A tour of the Jewish cemetery in Memmelsdorf can be arranged in addition to a visit to the synagogue. After an introduction to Jewish mourning and burial traditions, the pupils explore the cemetery independently, searching for symbols on gravestones, traces and the stories behind them. Things in common and unknown are presented in a concluding discussion.
The Jewish cemetery in Ebern can be included by request.
At least three hours should be planned for a visit to both the synagogue and the cemetery. Headwear is required for all male visitors to the cemetery.
Educational Trail
After the expulsion from almost all larger towns in the 15th and 16th centuries, the focus of Jewish life shifted to small rural communities. The abundance of different territories in today’s Franconia and the large number of dominions of imperial knights with the right to settle Jews was particularly favourable for the creation of Jewish communities. Around 1800, 13,000 Jews were living in 146 villages in present-day Lower Franconia, 71 percent of which were on territories of imperial knights. In the Hassberg district alone, there are 29 traces of Jewish communities, settlements or cemeteries. Some communities already disappeared in the 19th century due to too few members; most were destroyed in the Shoah. After 1945, no new communities were established in the district.
Synagogues, ritual baths, schools and cemeteries in varying states of repair make the long and eventful history of the Jews in the Hassberg district tangible. The Educational Trail "Geschichtspfad" links the synagogues of Memmelsdorf and Gleusdorf in several routes.
