Jewish cemetery Celle

In the last third of the 17th century, George William of Brunswick-Lüneburg settled four Jewish families in Celle. Among the first facilities of this community was its own cemetery. For this purpose, the sovereign granted the Jews of Celle a plot of land on the border of the village of Klein Hehlen. From 1704 the Jewish community tried to surround the cemetery, because the wandering cattle repeatedly caused grave damage. It was not until 1714 that the rezoning of the cemetery was allowed. In addition, a warning sign was erected and in 1739 a guard house was built. In this lived until the 2nd World War a Christian guardian.

In 1759 and 1879 there were enlargements of the cemetery plot and the relocation of the main entrance at the Hügelstraße. The cemetery was built on the ground floor. Of the more than 400 gravestones, 289 still exist today. The oldest stone dates from 1705 and commemorates Rechele Gans-Zell. The last member of the community to be buried in 1943 was Iwan Dawonsky, who came from an old Celle Jewish family. Today, a memorial stone set later commemorates him.

The construction of the mourning hall with tahara room according to the design of architect Otto Haesler in 1910 was a special change. On the occasion of the funeral of Moritz Levy in 1911, the building was given to its purpose.

In the pogrom night on 09.11.1938, there were disturbances in the cemetery hall. The cemetery caretaker August Schmidt was able to prevent further riots in the cemetery.

After the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on April 15, 1945 by British soldiers, a new Jüdische community was founded in Celle, which used the cemetery from 1945 to 1953 for their burials. Seven stones from this time remind of it.

In74 the Wächterhaus and the mourning hall were torn off because of omitted care and repair. In the opinion of the Celler Hochbauamt the Friedhofshalle of Otto Haesler was not to be regarded as an architectural monument.

Based on: information board at the Jüdischer Friedhof Celle