Jüdischer Friedhof

> Website

More information about the history

Image: Model of the Oberdollendorf synagogue (Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum)

There is evidence of Jewish residents in Königswinter from as early as the 13th century. Not a lot is known about the Jewish community, which was rather small for a long period of time. As a religious minority, its members were usually under the special protection of the territorial sovereign. Some of the families earned their livings by trading money, as merchants or as butchers. For religious practices, they initially used private synagogue rooms on Hauptstrasse and Winkelgasse from the middle of the 18th century, until they relocated to the newly constructed synagogue on Heisterbacher Strasse in Oberdollendorf in 1872. A memorial stone to the house of worship, which was destroyed during the “Kristallnacht” pogrom in November 1938, can still be found at the site.

Image: Gravestone of Amanda Süsskind (Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum)

One of the most famous Jewish families in Königswinter was the Cahn family; there is evidence that they lived and worked here from the beginning of the 17th century onwards. The gravestone of Amanda Süsskind, the daughter of David Cahn, is still in good condition, as opposed to those of her parents.

Image: David Cahn (Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum)

In 1857, David Cahn bought “Gut Sülz” – the former wine estate of the Cistercian abbey with its estates and vineyards – from the archaeologist and wealthy heiress Sibylle Mertens-Schaaffhausen (who was known as the “Countess of the Rhine”), and he moved with his family to Oberdollendorf. The steeply inclined road at “Gut Sülz”, in the direction of Heisterbacher Strasse, was given the name “Cahn’s Berg” [Cahn’s Hill] in his honour at the beginning of the 2000s. Another family descendant was Albert Cahn, who ran a shoe shop on Hauptstrasse in Königswinter. He was very much involved in the social life of the town and a member of several societies. Despite this, he was a victim of Nazi persecution. It was only thanks to the support of his daughter, who was married and lived in England, that he was able to flee in time. It was nevertheless important to him that his last resting place would be this cemetery – his is now the most recent grave dating from 1957.

Image: Gravestone of Hermann Israel (Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum)

On the grave of Hermann Israel, the well-known butcher and cattle dealer from Oberkassel, one can clearly see the symbols and inscriptions which are typical of the “matzevah” (Jewish gravestones): the Star of David is the religious symbol for belonging to the Jewish faith. The Hebrew inscription begins with a phrase which can be roughly translated as “Here lies”. The name, date of birth and date of death of the deceased are written in the middle section. A common blessing, such as the often used phrase which can be seen here – “May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life” – concludes the epitaph. The Königswinter cemetery withstood attempts by the Nazi administration to remove it from this site. Only a wide strip of land was divided off in order to broaden Clemens-August-Strasse, which ran along side it.

Image: “Stolpersteine”, Moritz and Settchen Baehr, Friedensstrasse 5

In remembrance of the life and death of Jewish citizens in Königswinter, Gunter Demnig, an artist from Cologne, installed four “Stolpersteine” (cobblestone memorial plaques) at the former homes of Karoline Levy, Frieda Marx and Moritz and Settchen Baehr in Oberdollendorf in May 2007.

Image: Karoline and Bernhard Levy (Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum)

Gunter Demnig’s work is based on a quote from the Talmud “A person is first forgotten when his name is forgotten”. The stones in front of the houses of the Jewish families evoke memories of the people who used to live there: such as Karoline Levy, nee Glaser, who, despite being 80 years old and seriously ill, was taken from her flat at Mühlenstrasse 4 in Oberdollendorf on 28th July 1942 and was deported to Theresienstadt – where she died on 11.8.1942.

Practical information

You can find out more about the history of the town of Königswinter and Jewish life in Königswinter at the:
Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum
> Website

Selected documents on the history of the Königswinter Jewish community and reports from contemporary witnesses are included in the permanent exhibition at the Siebengebirgsmuseum Königswinter.
> Website