Jewish cemetery (Weimar)

The Jewish cemetery was established in 1774 at the instigation of the court Jew Jacob Elkan. In 1775 it was first occupied by a deceased "little daughter" of Jacob Elkan. In 1805 Jacob Elkan was buried. In 1808 Gabriel Ulmann (1743-1816) added another plot to the cemetery area. After the last burial of Caroline Elkan in 1890, whose heirs moved to England, the cemetery fell into disrepair. Already in the early 1930s the gravestones - partly smashed - lay on the ground. 

The cemetery used to be much larger and originally had the size of 9.26 ares, of which only an area of 2.35 ares remained. During the Nazi period it did not pass into non-Jewish ownership and was used as an orchard until the early 1980s. Some gravestones hidden under the ground were preserved, the other gravestones were destroyed. Due to the commitment of the Weimar historian Eva Schmidt, around 1980 it came to the rescue of the still preserved gravestones and gravestone fragments. In 1983 the cemetery was restored as a memorial and memorial site and was rededicated on November 20, 1983  

In 1983 a wooden plaque was placed next to the recovered wrought iron entrance gate with the inscription: 
. "Burial place since 1775. Re-established and handed over on the 45th anniversary of the fascist pogrom night, the beginning of the suffering of countless Jewish fellow citizens." This plaque was replaced a few years ago by a new plaque with the inscription:  "Jewish Cemetery - Memorial. Burial place of the former Jewish community since 1775. Reinstalled in 1983. In memory of the pogrom night of November 9, 1938. Jewish regional community of Thuringia - City of Weimar."