Alternate names: Jindřichŭv Hradec [Cz], Neuhaus [Ger]. 49°09' N, 15°00' E, , 27 miles NE of České Budějovice (Budweis). Jewish population: 617 (in 1880), 234 (in 1930).
website in Czech with photo: landmarked "The cemetery is located in the street below the hills on the southern outskirts of the town, 1,000 meters SW of the castle on the hill above the shore Nežárka. Founded in the 15th century, expanded in 1557 and 1576, and extended and surrounded by a wall in 1773, the cemetery was last expanded in the second half of the 19th centuryA. bout 600 tombstones from 1638 until WWII are visible, among them Baroque and Classical examples. On the cemetery grounds is also a functionalist ceremonial hall built in 1937 that contains the original equipment with tahara and preserved hearse and completely renovated caretaker houseused as an apartment for the cemetery manager. From the 1990s, ongoing maintenance, but in the future, repair and erection of the enclosing wall and toppled tombstones. IThe ceremonial hall still needs repair as do historic gravestones from the 17th - 19th centuries. The last phase of restoration will be the hearse." [October 2011]
The Jewish cemetery allegedly from 1400 and enlarged in 1557 is on the slope of the hill Pejcoch over the river Nezarka. Walled in 1773, legible tombstones date from 1714. The ceremonial hall was built in 1937. Burials continued after World War II. The damaged cemetery has been both restored and cherished by a local youth club called Junak since January 1990. See photos at the bottom of the page. [February 2009]
Also, see Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 575: "Jindrichuv Hradec". [February 2009]
The Jewish community was densely settled in the eastern part of the region with the only remainder after the Holocaust being the desolate synagogues in Jindrichuv Hradec and Telc and cemeteries in Markvarec, Stare Mesto pod Landstejnem, Dolni Bolikov, Jindrichuv Hradec and Nova Bystrice. Source of information about Jewish communities in the area. [February 2009] Jews lived here at the end of the 13th century, when Oldrich of Hradec gained from King Vaclav II (Wenceslas II) the permission to "breed" eight Jews within their families. The Jewish community was located in Zidovny behind the village. They suffered from a pogrom in 133_. Until the 18th century, only two to six families lived in Jindrichuv Hradec despite a synagogue existing at the end of the 16th century. The synagogue onKostelni ulice (Church street) with Gothic windows and a Roman bow-shaped frieze was built during the 1850s and 1860s. (A wooden choir loft was added on the west side in 1867.) Since 1952 it is used by the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. The original religious objects and furniture were not preserved. The neighbouring building to the south (Kostelni ulice - Church Street No. 188) is a former Jewish school (now used as the parish office of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church) and of important architectural and historical significance its Baroque appearance. Originally entered from the south, the east entry was built after the extension of Kostelni ulice through the disassembled town walls. The northern wing is older, perhapsRenaissance. The exterior facade dates from the late 18th century, presumablhy built after an eight-day conflagration of the town and castle in 1801. In the mid-18th century, several families lived in houses on the west side of Kostelni street (Kostelni ulice). 1930 census: 234 Jews. The Jewish community exterminated during the Holocaust was never renewed. Birthplace of Kurt Adler (1907-1977), Chorus Master and Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, forced to flee under Nazism and Karel Berman (1919-1995), a Jewish opera singer and composer. Other former residents include:
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- Rabbi Michal Rachmuth -appointed a rabbi in 1915. Author of Czech books about Jewish history and literature.
- Franz Josef Beranek [1902 Breclav - 1967 Giessen] - university professor in Jindrichuv Hradec. Author of scientific publication about Yiddish dialects in Czechoslovakia [1935]
- Robert Piesen [1921 J. Hradec - 1977 Ein Hod] - academic painter.
REGION: The district of Jindrichuv Hradec may be divided into the following three sections: the vicinity of Jindrichuv Hradec itself; the environs of Trebon; and the area around Dasice and Slavonice. The southeastern part of the district, often called 'Czech Canada' for its 1995 Czech Canada Nature Park proclaimed over an area of Nova Bystrice, Sedlo, Horni Pena, Clunek, Kunzak, Cesky Rudolec and Slavonice. The landscape around Nova Bystrice, Landstejn and Kunzak is deep forests, green meadows, and fisheries. Center of the region is the historical town (and historical preserved area) of Jindrichuv Hradec, the district town, with an impressive history and exquisite cultural heritage. Between Jindrichuv Hradec and Trebon is the small town of Straz nad Nezarkou with a chateau. West of Jindrichuv Hradec is Kardasova Recice surrounded by many fish-ponds and the charming Renaissance water chateau of Cervena Lhota. The ruins of one of the largest and oldest Czech border castles, Landstejn, of which one part has been recently restored and serves as a stage for summer cultural events. A narrow gauge railway runs from Jindrichuv Hradec to Obratan or in the opposite direction to Nova Bystrice. The area surounding Trebon is the most important fisheries area of the Czech Republic with forested flat land, meadows, and countless fish-ponds, criss-crossed by waterways, streams and canals. These man-made canals and fish-ponds and historical and cultural monuments in the town of Trebon make Trebon, a holiday resort destination. An important historical preserved area with an extensive castle complex and the area between Trebon and the Austrian boarder includes the small towns of Chlum u Trebone and Suchdol amidst natural beauty. The third area in the eastern corner stretching away towards South Moravia includes the historical monuments of Dasice and Slavonice. Slavonice's unique burghers' houses with Renaissance gables and elaborate sgraffito decorated facades lies just a few kilometers from the Czech-Austrian border. February 2009]
map and photos: "The historical part of the town was [landmarked]. It lies around Vajgar pond on the Nežárka river about 50 km NE of the town of České Budějovice. There used to be a Slavonic fort in the place of the present town in the 10th century. The Romanesque-Gothic castle, first mentioned in 1220, was founded here by Jindřich I of Hradec and called Nova Domus or Neuhaus (New House). The market village, which arose around the castle, was called Hradec (or Gradec) from 1242. In 1293 it was a fortified town. The so-called New Town, the new part which was built on the northern outskirts of the town, was added in the 15th century. The first "newspapers" written in the Czech language were published in Hradec. The [greatest growth] of the town started in the 16th century. Hradec became a centre of the large domain. The most of important trade routes to Austria ran through the town. Drapery, fishing, brewing, and sheep breeding [predominated]. The town was reconstructed in the Renaissance style and was owner of the largest domain in Bohemia to the 20th century. The next town owners after the Lords of Hradec were the Slavata family in the beginning of the 17th century and in the beginning of the 18th century, the Černín family. After 1620 Hradec declined. New growth came in the 18th and 19th centuries with the development of industry. A big fire in 1801 damaged the town and also destroyed its medieval appearance.The most important sight in Jindřichův Hradec is the Gothic-Renaissance chateau, which arose from the original Gothic castle on the rock spit above the Nežárka river near Vajgar pond. Only part of the town walls with bastions on the eastern outskirts of the historical centre and the bastion called Solnice (Salt-House) have been preserved from the fortification from the 15th century substituted for the original fortification system from the 13th century. The town had three gateways, but only one, Nežárecká Brána (Nežárka Gate), has been preserved. The Column of the Most Holy Trinity (1768) is the dominant feature of the trapezoidal square in the historical centre. A lot of Gothic houses (from the end of the 14th century) and Renaissance houses (16th century) can be seen around the square. Most of them were reconstructed after the fire in 1801 and have some elements from later architectonic styles. The Gothic Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary from 1370 stands north of the square. The Jesuit college with the Baroque Church of St. Mary Magdalen in its south-eastern corner are situated in the surroundings. The town museum ...is located in the former Jesuit seminary opposite the college. Minorite monastery with the Early-Gothic Church of St. John the Baptist, founded about 1260, is not far from the square. The so-called New Town adjoins the historical centre north of the square. The Franciscan monastery with the St. Catherine's Church from the second half of the 15th century and the Renaissance Church of the Most Holy Trinity, which was built at the end of the 16th century in the cemetery, can be found here. The old Jewish cemetery founded before 1440 lies on the south-western outskirts of the town near the Nežárka river. The narrow-gauge railway runs from Jindřichův Hradec to Nová Bystřice and is 33 km long and built in 1897. Not far from the town (about 5 km east) can be found the ruins of the Vítkův Hrádek castle." [February 2009]
US Commission No. CZCE000301
Alternate German name: Neuhaus. Town is in S Bohemia at 49°09' N, 15°00' E , 40 km NE of Ceske Budejovice and 36 km SE of Tabor and 27 miles NE of České Budějovice (Budweis). Cemetery: 1000 meters SSW of chateau on E bank of river. Present population is 5000-25,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
- Town: Mayor Engineer Josef Eder, Mestsky Urad, Ceskoslovenske armady 135, 377 01 Jindrichuv Hradec; tel. 0331/222-75, 222-71, 221-23.
- Regional: 1. Okresni Urad, Referat Kultury, (Director: Engineer Arch. Karel Papousek), Janderova 147, 377 01 Jindrichuv Hradec; tel. 0331/262-41 or 236-66; 2. Jewish Congregation: ZNO Praha (Ms. Jana Wolfova), Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/2318664; 3. Pamatkovy ustav, namesti Premysla Otakara 34, 370 21 Ceske Budejovice; tel. 038/237-92.
- Interested: 1. Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-06-34 and 2. Okresni Muzeum, Balbinovo namesti 19, 377 11 Jindrichuv Hradec; tel. 0331/213-46.
- Key: Mr. Pacinek (Scout Leader), sidliste Vajgar 711/III, 377 01 Jindrichuv Hradec; tel. office: 0331/266-84.
Earliest known Jewish community is eight Jewish families permitted in 1294. Jewish population: 617 (in 1880), 234 (in 1930). A scanty community existed perhaps since the end of the 13th century. Pogrom occurred in 1338. Only four families were permitted in 14th-17th century. In first half of 18th century supernumerary families were banished. Jewish population increased in second half of the 18th century (9-12 families until 1848); new increase of Jewish community was about 1848. Jewish shops and houses were looted in 1919. Living here were Rabbi Michael Rachmuth, author Czech textbooks on Jewish history and literature in first third of century; Franz J. Beranek (1902-1967), non-Jewish Yiddish linguist; native town of the following: American opera conductor Kurt Adler (1907-1977); prominent opera singer Karel Berman (b. 1919); and painter Robert Piesen (1921-1977 Israel). The Jewish cemetery originated allegedly in 1400, but recorded in 16th century with last known Conservative Jewish burial 1940s or 1950s. Probably Straz nad Nezarkou (Ger: Platz), 11 km away, and Nova Bystrice (Ger: Neu-Bistritz), 16 km away, before local cemeteries were founded in 19th century used this landmarked cemetery. Landmark: on the Republic List of Monuments. The isolated suburban hillside by water has Czech sign mentioning the cemetery as cultural monument. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a broken masonry wall and locking gate. Size of cemetery before and after WWII: 0.3448 ha.
100-500 gravestones, 1-20 not in original locations and 25%-50% toppled or broken, date from 1714-20th century. The marble, granite, and limestone flat shaped stones, finely s moothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, sculpted monuments, multi-stone monuments, or obelisks have Hebrew, German, and/or Czech inscriptions. Some have iron decorations/lettering, other metallic elements, and/or metal fences around graves. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. Within the limits of the cemetery are a pre-burial house and a former caretaker's house, now sold. The pre-burial house is a functionalist building from 1937 with a funeral coach, biers, candlesticks, tablets of prayers, and memorial tablets, etc. Praha Jewish community owns the site used for Jewish cemetery and storage. Adjacent properties are a building site. Occasionally, private visitors and local residents stop. The cemetery probably never was vandalized. Local non-Jewish scouts and Jewish groups within country cleared vegetation. Current care: occasional clearing and cleaning organized by Jewish congregation with no regular caretaker. Security (uncontrolled access) and vandalism are a serious threat because the masonry wall is broken. Weather erosion and pollution are slight threats. Vegetation overgrowth seasonally prevents access.
Martina Chmelikova, Nad Ondrejovem 16, 140 00 Praha 4; tel. 02/69-20-350 and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on 24 November 1992. Documentation: 1. Frantisek Teply: Dejiny Mesta Jinrichova Hradce (1927); 2. Michael Rachmuth: "Die Juden in Neuhaus" (in Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft fur Geschichte der Juden in der Cechoslowakischen Republik, 1932); 3. Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia (1980); 4. Notes of research made by Statni Zidovske Muzuem Praha; and 5. Notes of photographer Ivan Belohoubek from Ostrava (1984). Other documentation exists but was inaccessible: No. 14, 22, 54, 60, 63, and 64 in archives of Praha Jewish Congregation. Chmelikova interviewed Ms. Vlckova from Okresni Urad, Referat Kultury by telephone in 1992and visited site in June 1992.
ROMZBERK [See Main Czech page: A cemetery list from approximately 1930 (with some later additions) of the names and dates of death for most people buried at the Jewish cemetery in Jindrichuv Hradec will be put accessible format on their website. They are checking if all the corresponding stones are still there and completing the data with dates of birth, places where the people lived etc. [date?]