Bad Wimpfen is an historic spa town in the district of Heilbronn and north of the city of Heilbronn on the river Neckar. According to Wikipedia: "An early-mentioned Jew who lived in Wimpfen was Alexander ben Salomo, who released the remains of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg in the early 14th century. Both are buried in Worms. Jews are known to have lived in Wimpfen in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. Around 1550 there was a brief expulsion of Jews. From the 17th century Jewish families lived in at least five houses in Bad Wimpfen, although several orders were passed that discriminated against them-1598, 1630, 1756 and 1762. In 1672 there was an expulsion, cancelled two years later. Jews were given some equality in the years of imperial township, but by 1933 only 22 Jews lived in Bad Wimpfen and they faced increasing discrimination by the Nazi party. The 1938 riots against Jews forced them to leave their homes and businesses. At least four deaths are known to have occurred during this persecution." photo of 1580 synagogue that was converted to apartments in the 1930s. cemetery photo. [February 2013]
74206 Baden-Württemberg
ADMIN. AREA: Heilbronn
CEMETERY LOCATION: Erich-Sailer-Strasse (opposite house No.72)
IN USE: from 1896 - 1943
GRAVESTONES: 21
DOCUMENTATION:
- photographs all gravestones as well as burial register in 1989 by Zentralarchiv.
- full cemetery documentation including the use of photographs 1991 by the State Office for Historic Monuments (editor: Frowald Gil Hüttenmeister).
- History by Angerbauer 1986, page 44.
- photographs by Hahn Hahn 2003 and earlier.
- this community was established during the 14th/15th century and up to the end of the 15th century the cemetery in Neudenau was used (Hahn 1988). It appears that a Jewish cemetery existed between the 16th/18th century in Bad Wimpfen in the area which was populalrly later known as Judenkirchhof, although its actual location is now unknown.
- At this time Jews from Bad Wimpfen also shared the use of the cemetery in Heinsheim. In the 19th century this was also the case with the cemetery in Bad Rappenau (Sauer 1966 page 45 and Angerbauer 1986, page 44). Bad Wimpfen established their own cemetery in 1896, which was in use until 1943. A few tombstones carry brief German inscriptions and some only names and dates. One such stone, that of a fallen Jewish soldier of WW1, also depicts the Iron Cross military decoration. There are memorial inscription of family members murdered in concentration camps showing on family graves.
SOURCES: Alemannia Judaica, University of Heidelberg and “Haus des Lebens” by Brocke and Müller (ISBN 3-379-00777-3)
[Researched and translated from German December 2007]
To see information and photographs of individual gravestones in cemeteries in Baden-Wuerttemberg, click on this link and follow the directions on that page.