Jewish cemetery Rheydt

The site of the present Jewish cemetery on Eifelstraße was acquired in 1832 by Heinrich Stern. This was not in his capacity as head of the Jewish community, but for private purposes.

Slowly, the Stern family made parts of the property available to the community as burial grounds. These parts of the land were transferred to the community as property. 

Before that, until 1836, a small burial ground had been used in the same part of the village, which was called the "Judenkirchhof aufm Heydberg" in 1782. It was located at the end of today's Watelerstraße. 

The first burial in the Jewish cemetery on Eifelstrasse took place on 17.06.1836. For the coming decades, the burial ground was sufficient. It was not until around 1900 that the community was given another piece of land. A few years later in 1908 a mortuary was built, which stood until the November pogroms. The next expansion of the cemetery took place in 1913. 

After World War I, the Jewish community placed a memorial in the cemetery to commemorate the Jewish dead of the war.

Desecrations of the cemetery and the mortuary occurred during the Nazi rule. The first occurred on 11.05.1935. Eight gravestones were knocked over, the doors of the mortuary were smeared, trees were broken off and Stars of David were stolen. Further desecrations took place during the November pogroms. Here, among other things, the mortuary was destroyed, of which only the foundation walls can be seen today.

To this day, burials take place in the cemetery. Nevertheless, the burial ground surrounded by high hedges is not open to the public. Until 1970, an estimated 1000 people were buried here. It is the second largest Jewish burial ground in the city of Mönchengladbach today. The administration of the cemetery is today incumbent on the Jewish religious community of Mönchengladbach, which is also the owner of the property.