Jewish cemetery Enger (Westphalia)

The cemetery, established in 1826 at the latest, is located about 1.5 km north outside the old town center of Enger on today's Ziegelstrasse. Until 1828, the Jews of Bünde were also buried here. Contrary to widespread Jewish custom, the graves do not face east (toward Jerusalem) but north toward the entrance.

The 56 preserved gravestones are inscribed in Hebrew on the front and German on the back. Their simple design is limited to ornaments typical for the time (star, rosette, garland) as they were also common in the Christian cemetery in Enger. Only on the gravestones of the male members of the Katz family there are depicted blessing priests' hands (Aronite blessing of a Kohen) as typical Jewish gravestone symbolism. Also noteworthy is an undated, incompletely preserved gravestone with an ornament of a wilting flower cluster. The motif is untypical for Jewish gravestones and may indicate the burial of a young woman or child.

The oldest surviving gravestone dates from 1839 (G. Isacsohn). The last to be buried was Moritz Marx, who died on 30.09.1938. The year 1892 at the wrought-iron entrance gate indicates the establishment of this gate by an Engeraner entrepreneur.

After dissolution of the independent synagogue community Enger (1895) and sale of the building synagogue in 1927, the sales proceeds could be used until 1942 by the last acting board for the maintenance of the cemetery