49°01' N, 09°04' E, 18 miles NNW of Stuttgart, 11 miles SW of Heilbronn, in Landkreis Ludwigsburg. Jewish population: 364 (in 1885), 50 (in 1933). Ancient Synagogue of Freudental Center of Culture and Education e.V.: Jewish history. at Strombergstraße 19, 74392 Freudental. Telephone: 0049-7143/24151 * Telefax: 0049-7143/28196. Wikipedia cemetery history with photos. The landmarked cemetery is located at the foot of Seeberges, the district Bönnigheim. Mentioned by 1723 a Jewish cemetery was leveled in 1811, Four gravestone fragments from that time are now in the former synagogue of Affaltrach .After closure of the old cemetery,a new cemetery on the NW slope of the valley Steinbach had an area of 24.92 Ar. The small cemetery hall (Taharahaus) was built. The Jewish community Zaberfeld also used the cemetery since 1832. Today, 435 at the cemetery gravestones are visible.t he last burial took place in 1970. Several 2007 desecrations broken, smeared, and tipped over gravestones smeared. [Feb 2013]
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), pp. 403-404: "Freudental".
- Pinkas HaKehilot, Germany, Vol. 2 (1986), p. 117: "Freudental".
- JewishGen GerSIG
74392 Baden-Wuerttemberg (Gerz, Peters)
DISTRICT: Ludwigsburg
LOCATION OF CEMETERIES: Old Cemetery I (bottom right arrow) - New Cemetery II (top left arrow).
Old cemetery I - Freudental - "Alleenfeld".
IN USE: From 1723 until 1811.
NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES: None.
DOCUMENTATION:
- Der jüdische Friedhof in Freudental> by Ludwig Bez / Haim Goren / Situtunga Michal Antmann / Ulrich Gräf obtainable from P.K.C. Freudental e.V., Strombergstraße 19, 74392 Freudental.
- Photographs of 3 gravestone fragments in Freudental
- Numerous photographs of general area location views in Alemannia Judaica
- Photographs in Württemberg 1932, page 76.
- Photograph of one now no longer visible gravestone fragment by Nebel 1985, page 31.
- History by Nebel 1985, pages 30 - 32 and 50 - 51.
- History by Hahn 1988b, pages 14-15.
- History in Freudental 1996, pages 14-17.
- Photographs of 3 gravestone fragments in Freudental Freudental 1996, pages 15 and 17.
- The use of this area as a cemetery by the Jewish community of Freudental was sanctioned on 22nd September 1723 by the payment of two Guilders to the town council. During the following years an annual fee of four Guilders was levied. This cemetery in the "Alleenfeld" was also used for burials by the Jewish communities of Zaberfeld, Hochberg (until 1795) and Stuttgart (up to the beginning of the 19th century). This cemetery was flattened in 1811 to make way for the King's pheasant rearing domain (Nebel 1985, pages 50-51).
- Four gravestone fragments are housed in the former Affaltrach synagogue (see Freudental 1996, pages 15 - 17).
New cemetery II - Freudental - on the foot of the "Seeberg" slopes.
IN USE: From 1811 until 1943, 1945, 1946 and 1970.
NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES: 435.
DOCUMENTATION:
- 1986 copies of all gravestone inscriptions by the Institutum Judaicum.
- 1990/1991 photographs of all gravestones and the cemetery layout in Zentralarchiv.
- 1986/1994 photographs of all gravestones, inscriptions with translations in Freudental.
- 1997 registration by the Office for Historic Monuments (Landesdenkmalamt) for the use of Freudental data recording system and that of the Zentralarchiv.
- Photograph by Württemberg 1932, page 76.
- History by Nebel 1985, pages 50-51.
- Full documentation in Freudental 1996.
- Numerous photographs of gravestones and other cemetery views in Alemannia Judaica.
- There is a small mortuary on this site.
- Several instances of vandalism and destruction occurred in 2007, the first of which was at the beginning of August 2007. Early October 2007 the cemetery was severely vandalised, with110 gravestones being desecrated, of which 37 were defaced and spray painted with Nazi symbols and anti-Semitic slogans and with a further 73 gravestones being toppled over and partially broken into pieces. The culprits had not yet been caught and brought to justice by the end of January 2008.
- A series of photographs as well as detailed text recording this outrage, can be found in Alemannia Judiaca, which includes a caption below two of the photographs reading: (translated: 'As far as possible, the damage done to the gravestones has been made good'.
SOURCE: University of Heidelberg and Alemannia Judaica.
(translated from German February 2008)
To see information and photographs of individual gravestones in cemeteries in Baden-Wuerttemberg, click on this link and follow the directions on that page.