Jewish cemetery Dessau

The Jewish cemetery „Am Leipziger Tor“ was laid out in 1687, extended several times – and almost completely destroyed in the November pogrom of 1938. Burials have been taking place here again since 1995.

The last stop on this walk is the „Israelite Cemetery“. There is no other place where the ups and downs of almost 350 years of Jewish history in Dessau can be traced as clearly as here. It was not until 1687 (according to older information 1674) that the Jewish community was able to create a cemetery in front of the (old) Leipzig Gate with princely permission. Between 1695 and 1902, the area was extended several times towards the southeast, towards Stenesche Strasse. The gardener's house and the coach house (now the mourning hall) from 1902 are still preserved at the southern entrance. Until 1941, a total of over 2,000 people were buried in Dessau, including visitors to the Leipzig Trade Fair before 1814. At the same time as the New Synagogue, Cremer Wolffenstein had an imposing mourning hall built here in 1906. It was completely destroyed in the November pogrom of 1938, along with the Mendelssohn monument erected in front of it in 1933 and large parts of the cemetery grounds. The gravestones were piled up and used as building material. Reconstruction began in 1945, but old rubble and rubbish are still being unearthed when new areas are developed. Since 1995, the Jewish community of Dessau has also been burying its dead here again, and a separate area for non-Jewish partners is planned.

From 'Stadtspaziergang Dessau-Roßlau'