48°14' N, 09°53' E, in Upper Swabia (Oberschwaben), S Germany, 50 miles SE of Stuttgart, 78 miles W of München (Munich). Jewish population: 852 (in 1869). On of the main trading routes from Ulm to Ravensburg and then toward Lake Constance, the town developed from a rural settlement into a small urban area. Laupheim is home to a small to medium sized industries and businesse including German Armed Forces Laupheim Air Base. Laupheim was the administrative center of the district of Laupheim from 1842 until 1938 when the district was abolished. The southern parts were incorporated into the district of Biberach (including Laupheim ) whereas the remainders were allocated to the district of Ulm. In the second half of the 19th century, Laupheim was home to the largest Jewish community in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the educational center for the surrounding areas. Wikipedia. [Mar 2013]
Nathanja overseer : The Jewish cemetery Laupheim. A documentation. Ed city Laupheim 1998th 601 pp. ISBN 3-00-003527-3 ( herein further references)
To stimulate the local economy and generate tax revenues, Carl Damian von Welden allowed the first Jewish families to settle in Großlaupheim in the 1720s under his protection. The Jews were made to settle in an area of the town (Judenberg, literally Jews' mountain or Jews' hill). Subsequently, a Jewish quarter evolved with a cemetery, synagogue, school and Rabbi's office. The Jewish community gradually assimilated Christian surroundings and prospered until the beginning of the Nazi-period in 1933. Deportation of the last remaining Jews was in 1942. See the very detailed History of the Jews in Laupheim including photos of the cemetery. Cemetery history and photos: Begun after 1730 and later expanded several times (area 46.27 ar), the cemetery survived the Nazi era almost unscathed. At the end of 1942, all metal objects were removed from the gravestones. Only a bronze plaque with the names of the war dead of the 1st World War II remained at the Cenotaph. The cemetery was documented several times after 1945. At the entrance in 1984, a large plaque with the names of Laupheim Holocaust victims was attached. The mortuary at the cemetery was built in 1822 and replaced in 1907 with a new one on the same site (Judenberg 24). About 1,200 graves with about 1,000 gravestones preserved. [Mar 2013]
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 710: "Laupheim".
- Pinkas HaKehilot, Germany, Vol. 2 (1986), p. 100: "Laupheim"
- JewishGen GerSIG
JOWBR: Juedischer Friedhof Laupheim
88471 Baden-Württemberg (Gerz, Peters).
LOCATION OF CEMETERY: Judenberg 24 (Detail).
IN USE: From 1732 until 1945 and occasionally also after 1945. Enlarged on several occasions.
NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES: 916.
DOCUMENTATION:
- Register of graves up to 1916 by Rabbi Dr. Leopold Treitel at the start of the 20th century.
- Photographs of all gravestone in the 1950s by Josef Schönle.
- 1977 copies of German mourning inscriptions/verses at the back of gravestones by Braun and Pysik (Braun/Pysik).
- 1981-1990 map of graves and copies of names with dates of death by John H. Bergmann and Ernst Schäll (Bergmann/Schäll).
- 1990 photographs of all gravestones with mapping of graves by Zentralarchiv.
- 1992 complete cemetery documentation including above photographs by order of the City of Laupheim and in collaboration with the Office for Historic Monuments (Landesdenkmalamt, ed. Nathanja Hüttenmeister).
- 1991/92 photographs of all gravestones by Laupheim.
- Fuller description of the Jewish cemetery in Laupheim.
- Numerous photographs of individual gravestones and general cemetery views in Alemannia Judaica.
- 3 photographs of individual gravestones by Württemberg 1932, page. 96.
- History by Kohl 1965, pages 55-56.
- History by Schenk 1979, page 298.
- History by Braun 1980.
- History (page 56) and photographs of 4 gravestones (page 96) by Schäll 1981.
- History by Laupheim 1983.
- History by Schäll 1994, pages 71-86.
- History by Schäll 1996.
- Complete cemetery documentation with photographs of only a few selected gravestones by Hüttenmeister 1998.
- Der Jüdische Friedhof Laupheim by Nathanja Hüttenmeister (LBI).
- Der gute Ort; Die Geschichte des Laupheimer juedischen Friedhofs im Wandel der Zeit by John H. Bergmann und Ernst Schaell.1983 (LBI).
- A mortuary was constructed in the cemetery in 1822, which was replaced in 1907.
- This cemetery survived the Nazi era almost unscathed. All metallic objects were removed at the end of 1942.
- A large commemorative plaque was dedicated in 1984 recording the names of all Laupheim's Jewish victims of the Nazi era 1933-1945.
- Of an original estimated 1,200 gravestones, around 1,000 are still in existence.
To see information and photographs of individual gravestones in cemeteries in Baden-Wuerttemberg, click on this link and follow the directions on that page.