Weißensee Cemetery
Encyclopedia
The Weißensee Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery
located in the neighborhood of Weißensee in Berlin
, Germany
. It is the second largest Jewish cemetery in Europe
. The cemetery covers approximately 42 ha (103.8 acre) and contains approximately 115,000 graves. It was dedicated in 1880.
Directly in front of the entrance is a Holocaust memorial, a commemorative stone, surrounded by further stones, each with the names of concentration camps. Next to this, there is a memorial to Jews who lost their lives during World War I
(which was dedicated in 1927) and also a commemorative plaque to those who fought Nazism
.
in the Italian Neorenaissance style. It was inaugurated in 1880. The surrounding walls and main building (where the archives are kept and the cemetery is administered) were constructed with a distinctive yellow brick. A second building (built in 1910) was destroyed during World War II
.
The grave plots are arranged into 120 different sections, each with its own geometric shape. The lavish way in which the more well-to-do individuals and families interred here chose to fashion their mausoleum
s using the latest art nouveau
designs is immediately noticeable.
The periphery of the cemetery is predominantly reserved for the upper and middle classes, while the center is occupied by the less well off, in areas which are harder to reach and often overgrown by foliage.
With the rise of Nazism the existence of the cemetery was at risk (many Jewish cemeteries in Europe were destroyed) but miraculously, the site survived relatively unscathed. Some 400 graves are estimated to have been destroyed by Allied bombing.
, Jews from all parts of Berlin continued to use the cemetery up until 1955. Between 1955 and German reunification
in 1990, only the small Jewish community in East Berlin used it.
During the four decades of the German Democratic Republic
, the cemetery was relatively neglected because most of Berlin's Jewish community had been murdered during, or had fled from, the Holocaust. Many of the graves were left unattended and became overgrown with weed
s.
In the 1970s, plans to build an expressway over part of the cemetery were considered, linking Michelangelostraße to the newly constructed Hansastraße. This proposal was dropped due to strong objections from the remaining Jewish community.
It has been estimated by cemetery officials that the cost of fully repairing the damage caused by years of neglect would amount to 40 million euro
s. On the occasion of the cemetery's 125th anniversary, appeals were made to the Berlin government to increase funding, so that a bid can be made to add the site to the UNESCO
world heritage list. The bid is supported by Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit
.
The cemetery is open to visitors, and the index of grave sites is largely intact.
Jewish cemetery
A Jewish cemetery is a cemetery where members of the Jewish faith are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition....
located in the neighborhood of Weißensee in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is the second largest Jewish cemetery in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The cemetery covers approximately 42 ha (103.8 acre) and contains approximately 115,000 graves. It was dedicated in 1880.
The entrance
The main entrance is at the end of the Herbert-Baum-Straße. In 1924, a second entrance was constructed off Indira-Gandhi-Straße.Directly in front of the entrance is a Holocaust memorial, a commemorative stone, surrounded by further stones, each with the names of concentration camps. Next to this, there is a memorial to Jews who lost their lives during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(which was dedicated in 1927) and also a commemorative plaque to those who fought Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
Construction of the cemetery
The plot of land was bought by the Jewish community of Berlin , comprising - besides congregants of orthodox and reform affiliation - mostly observants of mainstream Judaism (in today's term described at best as conservative Judaism). The old Jewish cemetery in Große Hamburger Straße, opened 1672, had reached its full capacity in 1827. The second cemetery in Schönhauser Allee, opened in the same year, reached its capacity in the 1880s, offering only few remaining gravesites in family ensembles mostly reserved for widows and widowers next to their earlier deceased spouses. Weißensee Cemetery was designed by renowned German architect Hugo LichtHugo Licht
Hugo Georg Licht was a German architect.- Life :...
in the Italian Neorenaissance style. It was inaugurated in 1880. The surrounding walls and main building (where the archives are kept and the cemetery is administered) were constructed with a distinctive yellow brick. A second building (built in 1910) was destroyed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The grave plots are arranged into 120 different sections, each with its own geometric shape. The lavish way in which the more well-to-do individuals and families interred here chose to fashion their mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
s using the latest art nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
designs is immediately noticeable.
The periphery of the cemetery is predominantly reserved for the upper and middle classes, while the center is occupied by the less well off, in areas which are harder to reach and often overgrown by foliage.
With the rise of Nazism the existence of the cemetery was at risk (many Jewish cemeteries in Europe were destroyed) but miraculously, the site survived relatively unscathed. Some 400 graves are estimated to have been destroyed by Allied bombing.
Post-World War II
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Jews from all parts of Berlin continued to use the cemetery up until 1955. Between 1955 and German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990, only the small Jewish community in East Berlin used it.
During the four decades of the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
, the cemetery was relatively neglected because most of Berlin's Jewish community had been murdered during, or had fled from, the Holocaust. Many of the graves were left unattended and became overgrown with weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
s.
In the 1970s, plans to build an expressway over part of the cemetery were considered, linking Michelangelostraße to the newly constructed Hansastraße. This proposal was dropped due to strong objections from the remaining Jewish community.
It has been estimated by cemetery officials that the cost of fully repairing the damage caused by years of neglect would amount to 40 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s. On the occasion of the cemetery's 125th anniversary, appeals were made to the Berlin government to increase funding, so that a bid can be made to add the site to the UNESCO
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
world heritage list. The bid is supported by Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit
Klaus Wowereit
Klaus Wowereit is a German politician, member of the SPD , and has been the Mayor of Berlin since the 2001 state elections, where his party won a plurality of the votes, 29.7%. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections...
.
The cemetery is open to visitors, and the index of grave sites is largely intact.
Cemetery of the Orthodox congregation Adass Jisroel
About two kilometres northwest of the Weißensee Cemetery, in Wittlicher Straße also in the Weißensee locality, the Orthodox congregation Adass Jisroel has operated its own cemetery since 1873. So far it contains about 3,000 graves, including those of- Siegmund Breitbart
- Esriel Hildesheimer
- Schocken family grave
Notable interments
- Hermann AronHermann AronHermann Aron [a:ron] was a German researcher of electrical engineering.- Background :Aaron was born in Kempen , in modern-day Poland, at the time a shtetl in the Province of Posen. His father was a chazzan and merchant...
, engineer - Herbert BaumHerbert BaumHerbert Baum was a Jewish member of the German resistance against National Socialism.Baum was born in Mosina, Province of Posen; his family moved to Berlin when he was young...
, anti-Fascist resistance fighter - Micha Josef BerdyczewskiMicha Josef BerdyczewskiMicha Josef Berdyczewski , or Mikhah Yosef Bin-Gorion was a Ukrainian-born writer of Hebrew, a journalist, and a scholar...
, Hebrew scholar and journalist - Hermann CohenHermann CohenHermann Cohen was a German-Jewish philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth century".-Life:...
, philosopher - Samuel von FischerSamuel von FischerSamuel Fischer, later Samuel von Fischer was a Hungarian-born German publisher, the founder of S. Fischer Verlag....
, publisher, founder of the S. Fischer VerlagS. Fischer VerlagThe German publishing house S. Fischer Verlag was founded in 1886 by Samuel Fischer in Berlin and is a leading German address for literary publications and fiction.Originally, it was renowned for naturalism literature... - Josef Garbáty, cigarette manufacturer
- Eugen GoldsteinEugen GoldsteinEugen Goldstein was a German physicist. He was an early investigator of discharge tubes, the discoverer of anode rays, and is sometimes credited with the discovery of the proton.- Life :...
, physicist - Moritz Heimann, author and journalist
- Stefan HeymStefan HeymHelmut Flieg was a German-Jewish writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to the part of his native Germany which was, from 1949–1990, German Democratic Republic...
, author - Max HirschMax Hirsch (labor economist)Max Hirsch was a German political economist and politician.-Biography:...
, political economist and founder of the German trade unions - Max Jaffe, chemist
- Berthold Kempinski, Berlin wine merchant and founder of KempinskiKempinskiKempinski Hotels S.A. is a luxury hotel group. Kempinski Hotels, the trading name for Kempinski Hotels S.A., is an independent Swiss delisted S.A., which is involved in a number of luxury hotel and hospitality related businesses, including conference, catering and hotel supplies.Kempinski Hotels...
Hotels - Louis LewandowskiLouis LewandowskiLouis Lewandowski was a German composer of synagogal music.Lewandowski was born at Wreschen, province of Posen, Prussia . At the age of twelve he went to Berlin to study piano and voice, and became solo soprano in the synagogue. Afterward he studied for three years under A. B...
, composer - Rudolf MosseRudolf MosseRudolf Mosse was a German publisher and philanthropist.-Biography:Mosse was born in Grätz, Grand Duchy of Posen, as the son of Dr. Markus Moses, a noted physician...
, newspaper publisher - Hermann TietzHermann TietzHermann Tietz was a German merchant of Jewish origin. Tietz was born on April 29, 1837 in Birnbaum an der Warthe near Posen and died on May 3, 1907 in Berlin)...
, department store founder - Wilhelm TraubeWilhelm TraubeWilhelm Traube was a German chemist.- Biography :Traube was born at Ratibor in Prussian Silesia, a son of the famous private scholar Moritz Traube....
, chemist - Theodor Wolff, author and journalist
- Nahum GergelNahum GergelNahum Gergel was a Jewish rights activist, humanitarian, sociologist, and author in Yiddish...
, Jewish activist, author and sociologist
Reaching the cemetery
- Herbert-Baum-Straße 45, Weißensee
- Tram line M4
- Opening times: Sunday–Thursday 10am–5pm, Friday 8am–3pm, closed on Jewish holidays. Open till 1pm the day before such a holiday. There are guided tours.