Jewish Cemetery Heinsheim

well preserved, but very far away

The Heinsheim Jewish Cemetery is a well-preserved Jewish community cemetery in Heinsheim, a district of Bad Rappenau (Heilbronn district, Baden-Württemberg). It is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in south-west Germany.In the cemetery, which is outside of town on the edge of a forest in the Gewann Schlierbach, there are 1,137 gravestones for Jews from Heinsheim and the surrounding area who died between the 16th century and 1937. The oldest gravestone that can be dated today dates from 1598.
The Jews from Heinsheim and the surrounding area have buried their dead in the Jewish cemetery in Heinsheim since the 16th century. It was used as a burial place not only by the Heinsheim Jewish community, but also by another 25 Jewish communities in the area. The cemetery was an important source of income for the respective Heinsheim local rulers, on whose grounds the cemetery was located, for which 10 guilders were paid annually in the early 18th century, and then 12 guilders from 1766. Further payments were due every 50 years. Likewise, a death benefit had to be paid to the local rulers at every burial. The cemetery was initially fenced and walled in 1718. The taxes on the landlordship were paid off in 1857 when the cemetery became the property of the Heinsheim Funeral Congregation.The cemetery has been expanded several times over the centuries and now covers an area of 10,764 square meters. The tombstones are mainly made of regional Keuper sandstone.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCdischer_Friedhof_(Heinsheim)
Source: Wikipedia