51°16′0″N 7°11′0″E, Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in and around the Wupper river valley east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. population: 350,000. The largest city in the Bergisches Land, Wuppertal is known for its steep slopes, its woods and parks, and its suspension railway. Two-thirds of the total municipal area is green space. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Wuppertal was one of the biggest industrial regions of continental Europe. Today, industries such as textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals (Aspirin was invented in Wuppertal in 1897 by Bayer), electronics, automobiles, rubber, vehicles and printing equipment. Wikipedia. [August 2012]
WUPPERTAL is the amalgamation of Elberfeld, Barmen, and other towns in 1929. Jewish population: 1593 [ every Jew had to contribute ten thalers for the defense of the town] "Sixty Jewish families were admitted in 1671. A new Judenordnung ("Jews' Statute") was introduced into the duchy of Juelich in 1749, imposing a heavy tax burden. The yarnmakers of Elberfeld had always strenuously opposed Jewish settlement, and in 1794 all Jews were expelled from the town, returning when it was under French rule (1806-15). Their position then greatly improved. In 1808 there were nine Jewish families in the town, and 21 in 1818. A synagogue was built in 1865. In 1875 the number of Jews in Elberfeld was 813, growing to 1,104 in 1880; 1,705 in 1905; and 3,000 in 1932. The poet Else *Lasker-Schueler was born there. After the 1794 expulsion, Jews were admitted into Barmen under French rule; however, by 1877 there were no more than ten families in the town. The community numbered 584 in 1905, and 750 (0.33 percent of the total population) in 1926 (unchanged in 1933). The number of Jews in Wuppertal was approximately 3,500 (0.8 percent) in 1933, but had decreased to just over 1,000 in 1939, plus about 650 so-called Mischlinge (mixed Jews). In November 1938 the synagogues were destroyed and many Jewish inhabitants deported to *Dachau. Most of those who remained at the outbreak of war in 1939 perished in the Holocaust. A "branch" of the *Buchenwald concentration camp operated outside Wuppertal in 1942-43. A small Jewish congregation was re-established after 1945, numbering approximately 150 persons in 1967. The Jewish community numbered 82 in 1989 and 2,293 in 2004. The increase is explained by the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union. A new synagogue was consecrated in 2002. In 1994 a new cultural and educational center was opened in memory of the members of the Jewish community who were expelled and killed during the Nazi era. Built on the site of the destroyed synagogue in Elberfeld, it serves as a venue for exhibitions, lectures, and seminars. Wuppertal is the seat of the Else Lasker-Schueler Society, founded in 1990." Source: Encyclopedia Judaica [August 2012]
Jewish history written by Wuppertal school. [August 2012] Synagogue. [August 2012]
Holocaust Memorial: Train station at the end of Nazi period: the deportation of over 1,000 Jewish citizens of Wuppertal via Eastern European ghettos to Nazi extermination camps took place from Steinbeck station. On the platform a labelled obelisk made of stone memorialises the five mass movements of deportees.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- E. Jorde, Zur Geschichte der Juden in Wuppertal (1933);
- Monumenta Judaica, Handbuch (1963), index; K. Duewell, Die Rheingebiete in der Judenpolitik des Nationalsozialismus vor 1942 (1968), index.
- K. Schnoering, Auschwitz begann in Wuppertal. Juedisches Schicksal unter dem Hakenkreuz (1981)
- P. Busmann, Auf den Schatten gebaut. Von der inneren zur aeusseren Entstehung der Begegnungsstaette Alte Synagoge Wuppertal (1996);
- U. Schrader and H. Jakobs, Ma Towu... Alte Gebetbuecher der Juedischen Kultusgemeinde Wuppertal (2000);
- L. Goldberg, Dies soll ein Haus des Gebets sein fuer alle Voelker (2002);
- T. Ahland and U. Schrader (eds.), Haus des Lebens. Der juedische Friedhof in Wuppertal-Barmen (2004).
- [Larissa Daemmig (2nd ed.)]
5600 North Rhine-Westphalia (Gerz, Peters)
CEMETERY:
- 1) Ot. Barmen 42281, Hugostr.
- 2) Ot. Elberfeld 42107, Weissenburgstr. 31 tombstones from Velbert-Mitte. See Velbert. Photos. Photos. [August 2012]
- 3) Ot. Elberfeld 42109 Weinberg. NEW: History and photo in 2005. [August 2012] Wuppertal's Jewish Community opens a new cemetery: "For the first time since 1896, a new Jewish cemetery has been opened in Wuppertal. The Ceremonial Hall was inaugurated on 18 May [2005]. The 21,000-square-metre plot had been donated to the Jewish Community of Wuppertal by the Elberfeld Protestant Church Circuit several years ago. It provides place for about 2,000 graves. A separate section is available for non-Jewish spouses. To finance the preparation of the plot and the construction of the Ceremonial Hall, the Community has raised a €500,000 loan." (29.05.2008)
- Jüdischer Friedhof Krummacherstraße photos. [August 2012]