WÜRZBURG: (WUERZBURG) 49°47′0″N 9°56′0″E.
This city in Franconia, Northern Bavaria on the Main River since 741 is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian. Würzburg is at about equidistant (75 miles) between Frankfurt am Main and Nuremberg, but not part of the Landkreis Würzburg, i.e. the county or district of Würzburg, that is the seat of the district's administration. The city's population is 133,501 as of 31 December 2008. [August 2012]
A Jewish community existed as early as the eleventh century, although the first documentary evidence is in 1119. Jewish persecution occurred during the Crusade of 1147, in 1298, and in 1349 when all Jews (adult and child) died voluntarily in the flames of the synagogue. Jews of Würzburg were expelled by the bishop in 1565. The disused cemetery was illegally confiscated by the bishop, ignoring the emperor's warning to treat the Jews with justice. After the expulsion, Jewish community of the neighboring town of Heidingsfeld flourished with the rabbinate of Würzburg and the Bet Din. Prominent residents include Eliezer ben Nathan, Isaac Or Zarua', Meïr of Rothenburg, Israel Koppel Fränkel and his son Samson Fränkel, Jacob of Reckendorf, Aryeh Löb Rapoport, and Levin Fahrenbach. Jews again were permitted to settle in Würzburg when Rabbi Abraham Bing was appointed chief rabbi of Franconia there in 1798. In 1839 the chief rabbinate was abolished. The first district rabbi of Würzburg was Seligmann Baer Bamberger, who died in 1878 and was succeeded by his son Nathan Bamberger. 1906 Jewish population: 4,000 out of a total population of 90,000. Holocaust. [August 2012]- M. L. Bamberger, Ein Blick auf die Gesch. der Juden in Würzburg, Würzburg, 1905;
- idem, Beiträge zur Gesch. der Juden in Würzburg-Heidingsfeld;
- Heffner, Juden in Franken, Nuremberg, 1855;
- Himmelstein, Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins für Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg, vol. xii.;
- Salfeld, Martyrologium;
- Stern-Neubauer, Hebräische Berichte über die Judenverfolgungen Während der Kreuzzüge, Berlin, 1892;
- Stumpf, Denkwürdigkeiten, part i.;
- Wegele, Vorträge und Abhandlungen.
- Jews in Würzburg, 1900-1945. Yad Vashem memorial. Cemetery and community history. In the Eye of the Storm: Growing Up Jewish in Germany, 1918-43, A Memoir. By Herbert Strauss. Jewish history. [August 2012]
97084 Bavaria (Gerz, Peters)
1) no info.
2) Ot. Heidingsfeld.
Heidingsfels cemetery has a solid stone wall around large old and new sections, adjacent to RR tracks. Many decorated very old tombstones. Source: Steinerne Zeugnisse juedischen Lebens in Bayern; eine Dokumentation, 2nd ed. by Israel Schwierz. Muenchen: Bayerische Landes- zentrale fuer politische Bildungsarbeit 1992, ISBN 3-87052-398-0, 368 pp. [1st ed. 1988, ISBN 3-87052-393-X, 352 pp.].
Stones from the old cemetery, dating from early 12th c, are still being found, having been recycled after the cemetery was sold in 1349. No info as to where these are being stored or renovated.
Current cemetery is at NE city limit, still in use, surrounded by massive stone wall, main entrance on Werner-Siemesstr. plus side doors. Attendant lives on premises. Memorial for dead of WW I, and separate memorial for members of Jewish Fraternity who died in WW I. Oldest stone is of Amalie Bechhoefer who died in 1881. Many non-splendid tombstones date from the Nazi era. Most recent vandalism was 1982. [1998] Source: Steinerne Zeugnisse juedischen Lebens in Bayern; eine Dokumentation, 2nd ed. by Israel Schwierz. Muenchen: Bayerische Landes- zentrale fuer politische Bildungsarbeit 1992, ISBN 3-87052-398-0, 368 pp. [1st ed. 1988, ISBN 3-87052-393-X, 352 pp.].
Pending book: Karlheinz Mueller, Simon Schwarzfuchs, Abraham Reiner, Eva Haverkamp, The Jewish Medieval Tombstones of Wuerzburg (2003). [February 2002]