MÜNSINGEN, Muensingen, incorporating BUTTENHAUSEN: 48°25' N 9°30' E. Münsingen is the geographically largest municipality in the district of Reutlingen between Reutlingen and Ulm in the Neckar-Alb region and (98.5%) part of the biosphere reserve Swabian Alb . Münsingen includes the districts Apfelstetten, Bichishausen, Buttenhausen Gundelfingen andHundersingen in the valley of the Big Lauter and Auingen, Böttingen, Bremelau, Dottingen, Magolsheim, Rietheim and Trail Osterfingen Münsinger on the Swabian Alb. A farming village owned by local aristocrats until 1805 when several noble families owned it in 1782. In 1755, sporadically Jews arrivedin Buttenhausen. In 1787 Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Liebenstein invited more Jewish families to the town with "Decree on the citizenry to Buttenhausen acceptance of those concerning Jews" of 20 May 1787 for religious tolerance and promotion of trade and industry. Traditional Jews in neighboring Württemberg received a letter of protection on 7 July 1787 with 21 articles containing detailed provisions for the life of the Jewish communities. The letter guaranteed the free exercise of religion and a certain self-governance. Soon after the arrival of the first Jews came ypical Jewish community institutions. The settlement of Jews became the impetus for major economic prosperity in the 19th and turn of the 20th century. The Nazis ended the Christian-Jewish coexistence. Two large deportations of local Jews to Riga in 1941 and 1942 to Theresienstadt led to the extinction of the Jewish community. Unlike in other cities, after WWII, Buttenhausen Jewish life was celebrated. In memory Jewish local history in1 996, an Historical Tour Buttenhausen was established. 15 stations highlight the local history and culture of Jews born in Buttenhausen such as Charles Adler, Naphtali Berlinger, Lehmann Bernheimer, Matthias Erzberger and Theodore Rothschild. The places and houses of the one hour tour are described on information sign and a brochure. Guided tours require registration at least 3 weeks prior to the event. The fee for a guided tour is a group (30 persons) 50 EUR. Guided tours are available upon request in English. Contact: Municipal Archives Münsingen This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Marktplatz 1 72525 Münsingen Tel: 07381/182115 [Mar 2013]
Jewish cemetery on Wikipedia.The older gravestones are simple and inscribed in Hebrew. Later gravestones were magnificently executed sometimes indicating something about the deceased. Gravestones of the 20th century were often cast stone. Since Jews to the Nazi era could not acquire gravestones wooden stelae were erected. They were replaced in the 1960s by simple gravestones. photo. oral history project. photos and map. photo. [Mar 2013]
72525 Baden-Württemberg (Gerz, Peters).
(MUENSINGEN)
LOCATION OF CEMETERY: Buttenhausen – north face of Mühlenbergwald (Detail).
IN USE: From 1789 until 1942. Oldest legible dated gravestone 1802.
NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES: 399.
DOCUMENTATION:
- Mapping and register of graves since 1976 by Walter Ott.
- 1990 photographs of all gravestones with mapping of graves by Zentralarchiv.
- 1997 cemetery documentation including above photographs by the Office for Historic Monuments (Landesdenkmalamt ed. Michal Antmann).
- Numerous photographs of individual gravestones and general cemetery views in Alemannia Judaica.
- Photographs in Württemberg 1932, page 67.
- History by Rieth 1973.
- History in Juden in Buttenhausen click info, museum and more.
- Eberhard Zacher: Die Juden von Buttenhausen: Alltag und Brauchtum, Verfolgung und Schicksal ; Leben und Untergang einer juedischen Minoritaet in einer württembergischen Landgemeinde pub Oberschulamt Tübingen 2001 (Reprint) (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek).
- Roland Deigendesch: Juden in Buttenhausen: ständige Ausstellung in der Bernheimer’schen Realschule Buttenhausen pub. Stadt Münsingen 2004. (LBI)
- Max Werner: Buttenhausen: the history of a former German-Jewish community; personal recollections and reflections (LBI).
- Guenter Randecker: Juden und ihre Heimat Buttenhausen pub. Stadt Münsingen 1987 (LBI).
- Alfred Fritz: Die Geschichte und Entwicklung der Juden in Buttenhausen 1938 (LBI).
- There are signposts with directions to the Jewish cemetery starting in the town centre.
- The gravestone of Siegfried Nördlinger dated 1943 probably marks the last grave.
- A memorial plaque affixed to a tree in the cemetery records the history of the Jews in Buttenhausen: Buttenhausen und seine jüdischen Bürger 1788-1942, including the deportation date of the last Jew from Buttenhausen on 22 August 1942.
- The man who restored the cemetery after the Nazi era was Walter Ott, a non-Jew of Buttenhausen, who speaks only German.
