BERLIN

BERLIN: 13088 (Gerz)

See JOWBR for various Berlin cemetery indexes.

STATUS REPORT: After World War II, Jews in all sectors of Berlin at first belonged to a single congregation, but in 1953 those in West Berlin founded the "Juedische Gemeinde zu Berlin" (as opposed to the "Juedische Gemeinde Berlin" in East Berlin). In the 1980s, the Tora-True congregation "Adass Jisroel" (founded by R' Esriel Hildesheimer and others in 1869, but not officially recognized until 1885) was re-established. The East German authorities returned some of its property (including the cemetery), but the other congregations did not recognize it. After the unification of Germany, the "Juedische Gemeinde" in East Berlin, which had only a few hundred members, was incorporated into the "Juedische Gemeinde zu Berlin". For information, contact the individual cemeteries or the cemetery administration ["Friedhofsverwaltung"] at the address of the community center: Juedische Gemeinde zu Berlin, Fasanenstrasse 79/80, D-10623 Berlin; Tel. 030 / 884 203-0, Fax 030 / 881 7268

• Adass Jisroel (Weissensee). Friedhof der juedischen Gemeinde Adass Jisroel, Wittlicherstrasse 2, D-13088 Berlin. Phone: 030/ 965 1724. 2.1 ha, almost square. ca. 3000 graves, used 1880-1942 (and presumably again from about 1990). There was little war damage, but cemetery fell into disrepair; large-scale restoration and preservation measures were taken in 1985/86. NAME INDEX: card catalog in the office at the entrance. Sun-Tue 8-16, Fr 8-14 (as of 1987).�BOOK: Adass Jisroel; Die Juedische Gemeinde in Berlin (1869- 1942), vernichtet und vergessen, ed. By Mario Offenberg. Berlin: Museumspaedagogischer Dienst 1986, ISBN 3-88245-149-1, 332 pp. Description of cemetery with photos and diagram of burial fields and rows: pp. 272-289.

 

• Beelitz bei Berlin: students have indexed this cemetery: Source: Professor Dr. Michael Brocke, Freie Universitat Berlin, Fachbereich, Philosophie und Sozialwissenschaften II, Insitute fuer Judaistik (WE 1), Schwendenerstr. 27, 14195 Berlin
• Juedischer Friedhof Charlottenburg: Heerstrasse / Scholzplatz, D-14055 Berlin.Phone: 030/304 3234.Size: 3.4 ha. Ca. 4500 graves (as of 1990). Used 1955-present. (Until German unification, this was the cemetery of the Jewish community in West Berlin) (Beer, J.):
• Grosse Hamburger Strasse (Mitte): Grosse Hamburger Strasse 26. 0.59 ha. About 12,000 graves. Used 1672-1827. (A list compiled in 1872 contains 2767 gravestones that were still legible. The cemetery, now a park, was destroyed by the Nazis in 1943. Some of the oldest gravestones in the cemetery wall were not damaged, but were removed in 1989 to prevent further decay. A new gravestone (the third) was erected for the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786). Burial list of Jewish cemetery at the Grosse Hamburgerstr. Location Leo Baeck Institute : Berlin; Jewish community collection; Storage- Location: A 11/4, A 37/3, V 1/3, 2nd floor left microfilm cabinet Addenda: Burial list of Jewish cemetery at the Grosse Hamburgerstr. (1672-1832)

[UPDATE]Samuel Gruber's Jewish Art & Monuments: Germany: Berlin's Old Cemetery at Grosse Hamburger Str., A Good Example of How to Protect and Present a Despoiled Urban Cemetery [December 2016]

• Oranienburg: Students have indexed this cemetery: Source: Professor Dr. Michael Brocke, Freie Universitat Berlin, Fachbereich, Philosophie und Sozialwissenschaften II, Insitute fuer Judaistik (WE 1), Schwendenerstr. 27, 14195 Berlin
• Prenzlauer Allee: Open Monday to Friday; no key is necessary. There is a person in the office at the front of the cemetery during the opening hours, and it's possible that he/she may be able to provide you with more information regarding the precise number of graves located there. Most of the graves are standing, but are covered over in ivy and other growth. Some paths have been cleared, notably around the periphery of the cemetery, and through it only in some places. There also seemed to be some restoration work in progress, of graves and the mausolea located by the cemetery walls. This is where many of the really splendid family graves are located. It appeared as though burials took place up to the early 1940s, which I found a bit odd. After the Holocaust, many families seemed to add the names of victims to their family monuments, with a word about the camp in which they perished. In 1988 the cemetery was attacked by vandals who overturned several gravestones; interesting, considering there is a huge police station right next to it and the police claim to have not seen or heard anything.. The city provides a map of Jewish sites of interest in the city, available in English, which is quite fascinating because many of them no longer exist. Each location has a small paragraph detailing the site's history.
  I recommend contacting Marga Schoeller Bucherstube, Knesebeckstrasse 33, 10623, tel. 011 30 881-1112. They have several fluent English-speaking employees, and are very helpful. Source:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Cemetery in Schonhauser Strasse Grosser Hamburger Strasse 26 (Mitte). (Prenzlauer Berg).
• Schoenhauser Allee (Prenzlauer Berg): Schoenhauser Allee 23-25. Berlin 30. ca.5 ha (almost triangular). About 22,500 individual graves, 750 family graves (as of 1880); many tombs of prominent Jews. Used 1827-1976 (officially closed in 1880, but occasional burials took place after that, especially in family graves.) The cemetery was badly damaged by the Nazis and by bombs, but a lot of restoration work has been done. In 1975, it was classified as a historical monument. Mon-Thu 10-16, Fr 10-13; closed Shabbat, Sunday, Jewish holidays (as of May 1992). NAME INDEX: incomplete (contact "Friedhofsverwaltung" at Fasanenstrasse community centre). Der juedische Friedhof Schoenhauser Allee, by Rosemarier Koehler & Ulrich Kratz-Wahn. Berlin: Haude & Spener 1992, ISBN 3-7759-0340-2, 191 pp. Contains alphabetical list of 274 graves of individuals and families, biographical information and portraits, photos of gravestones, cemetery diagram showing locations of all graves described in the text. at Leo Baeck Institute : ID # GT 3250 B4 K64
  BOOK: Koehler, Rosemarie; Kratz-Whan, Ulrich: Der juedische Friedhof Schoenhauser Allee .-Berlin: HaudeSpener, 1992.- 192 S.; Source:AE also see SPANDAU
• Juedischer Friedhof Weissensee: Norbert-Baum-Strasse 45, D-13088 Berlin. Phone: 030 / 965 3330 and 965 0833. 42 ha (ca.1000 m long and up to 500 m wide; largest Jewish cemetery in Europe. 115,000 graves (as of 1980). Used 1880-present. (After WWII, Jews from all parts of Berlin continued to use the cemetery until 1955; from 1955 until unification only the small Jewish community in East Berlin used it). Orders for restoration and maintenance of individual graves are accepted. Entrance is difficult to find, especially because there is an adjacent non-Jewish cemetery. One can obtain the grave position from Judishe Gemeinde zu Berlin-Judische Friedhof.(Fax no 965 33 30 + 965 08 33 ) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.:�
  "When I visited one of the German government archives, the person in charge recommended that I go to the cemetery. I repeated what the Jewish agencies had told me, and was informed that that is not true, that the cemetery has an excellent index. He furnished me the name and phone number of the person in charge, within two minutes she confirmed my grandfather's grave and thirty minutes later I was standing in front of it reciting the kaddish. I detect some sort of turf battle between the cemetery administration and the Jewish agencies. The cemetery is located at: 13088 Berlin-Weissensee, Herbert-Baum Strasse 45, Telephone: 9 65 33 30. I would caution would-be visitors, that the Jewish cemetery is next to a larger Weissensee cemetery (non-Jewish) but the entrance is miles from that entrance and our cab driver had a hard time finding it and only did so by continually calling from his car phone to get directions. The cemetery contains some interesting mausoleums, has a chapel, a rather large office and staff, and they furnish a map to visitors to help them find the particular grave. The fact that it appears to have been untouched by the Nazis and later the East Germans is even more unusual. It is in magnificent condition. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

[UPDATE]

115628 Berliners - The Weissensee Cemetery - Documentation of the Comprehensive Survey of the Burial Site" published by the Berlin Heritage Authority, written in German and English.� Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. She adds:� "Additionally, I live in Weissensee close to the Cemetery and I am often there. Please feel free and contact me whenever information or photographs are needed."

http://stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/landesdenkmalamt/download/neuerscheinungen/band40_jued_friedhof_weissensee.pdf [Jun 2014]

[UPDATE] Film showing various gravesites and features of monuments in Weissensee [November 2014]

• BOOKS:
• • 100 [I. E. Hundert] Jahre juedischer Friedhof Weissensee,/ von Ernst G. Loewenthal. 1981. 266-271 p. illus. 24 cm. (In Mitteilungen des Vereins fuer Geschichte Berlins, 77. Jahrg., Heft 1, Jan. 1981) ID # GT 3250 B4 L6 Leo Baeck Institute
  • Der gute Ort in Weissensee; Bilder vom Juedischen Friedhof und eine Sammlung juedischer Stimmen zu Vergehen und Werden, Bleiben und Sein, ed by Juergen Rennert. Berlin: Evangelische Verlags- Anstalt 1987. ISBN 3-374-00126-2, 109 pp. Source: DIE DEUTSCHE NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIE (DS135.G33 R436 1987) at Leo Baeck Institute : ID # GT 3250 B4 R4 Source: Leo Baeck Institute
  • Der juedische Friedhof in Weissensee; ein Denkmal der Assimilation und ihres Scheiterns/ Melcher , Peter; Berlin: 1985. 26, [19] p. illus., plan. 29 cm. (In Materialien des Paedagogischen Zentrums zur Lehrerfortbildungsveranstaltung "Staetten des Judentums und der Judenverfolgung in Berlin", 1985) Bibliography: p. [44] ID # q GT 3250 B4 M4 Source Leo Baeck Institute
  • List of tombstones of cemetery.; location at Leo Baeck Institute : Berlin; Jewish community collection; Storage-Location: A 11/4, A 37/3, V 1/3, 2nd floor left microfilm cabinet; Addenda: poster about exhibit of the Jewish cemetery at Weissensee (11/3/1988-1/15/1989)
  • NAME INDEX: card catalog in the office at the main entrance; according to Peter Lande (Stammbaum, Vol.I, No.2, Spring 1993, p.27), microfilms prepared by the Landesarchiv Berlin will be available (probably from 1995) at the cemetery and at:
  • photo; map of Berlin-Weissensee cemetery; in German; Donors: Kurt Wilk, n. d., James Julius Walters-Warschauer, 1992; Location at Leo Baeck Institute Malvin Warschauer; Storage-Location: B 33/5; Accession Number(s): AR 794.
  • Plan of Berlin-Weissensee cemetery with locations for three specific gravesites (post-World War II). Source at Leo Baeck Institute : Sally Bodenheimer collection; Storage-Location: V 9/5
  • Posner, Louis, 1926- Papers, 1942-1944, 1979-1983. 14 items. Photocopies in part. Photographs � of the Weissensee Jewish cemetery in East Berlin, � German, Yiddish, and English. Location: Center for Holocaust Studies, Brooklyn, NY. Control No.: NYHV85-A2010 [December 2000] Stiftung "Neue Synagoge Berlin", Oranienburger Strasse 28/29, D-10117 Berlin. Hours: 9-16, Oct. 9-17, March-Sept. 9-18, closed Shabbat and Jewish holidays (as of 1987). Office hours: Mon-Thu 9-14, Fri 9-13 (as of 1987).
  • Weissensee; ein Friedhof als Spiege Leo Baeck Institute
  • Ald juedischer Geschichte in Berlin, by Peter Melcher. Berlin: Haude & Spener 1986. ISBN 3-7759-0282-1, 132 pp. History of cemetery and of Jews in Berlin, many photographs, some biographical data, name index. (DS135.G4 B4677 1986) at Leo Baeck Institute : ID # GT 3250 B4 M43
  • Weissensee-Grabsteine.-In:Professor Dr. Michael Brocke, Freie Universitat Berlin, Fachbereich, Philosophie und Sozialwissenschaften II, Insitute fuer Judaistik (WE 1), Schwendenerstr. 27, 14195 Berlin . Mitteilungsblatt / Irgun Olej Merkas Europa (Tel Aviv) 29 (1961), Nr. 29, S. I0. Source: AE [sic]
• Sophien Friedhof: This 19th century cemetery which, while not Jewish, has many gravestones attesting to many buried of those born Jewish and, according to a certain standard of the time for Jews, baptised. The birth date has a Jewish star on it and the death date has a cross. This area was a mixed area (Mitte). Jewish community on Grosse Hamburger Strasse gave Sophien Church part of its land. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

BOOKLIST:Ald juedischer Geschichte in Berlin.-Berlin: Haude u. Spener, 1986.- 131 S. Source: AE [sic]

Berliner Grabsteine; Spaziergaenge wider die Vergessenheit, by Heinz Knobloch. 4th ed. Berlin: Morgenbuch 1991, ISBN 3-371-00352-3, 236 pp. [1st ed. Berlin: Arsenal 1988, ISBN 3-921810-78-7, 224 pp.;About interesting people buried in Berlin, with some photographs; Grosse Hamburger Strasse: pp. 12-17, Weissensee: pp. 137-180 in 1st ed.; (DD859.K57 1991, 1st. ed.: DD859.K57 1988) at Leo Baeck Institute : ID # DD 866 K57 Source: Leo Baeck InstituteDenkmalpflege in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik: Juedische Friedhoefe in Berlin, by Alfred Etzold, Peter Kirchner, Heinz Knobloch. Berlin: Institut fuer Denkmalpflege, 1979. Series: Schriftenreihe historische Friedhoefe in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik ; Heft 1\1\Includes bibliographical references. DS135.G4.B47 x 1991 (Epitaphs and genealogy)Der elteste juedische Friedhof in Berlin. -In: Der Israelit 6 (1865), Nr. 49. Source: AE [sic]Die Friedhoefe der juedischen Gemeinde zu Berlin by Wolfgang Gottschalk. Berlin: Argon 1992, ISBN 3-87024-201-9, 128 pp.[many colour photographs, does not cover Adass Jisroel. Source: Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Buecher (analogous to the U.S. Books in Print.) (DS135.G4 B4515 1992) at Leo Baeck Institute : ID # GT 3250 B4 G68Die Juedischen Friedhoefe in Berlin by Alfred Etzold.. (et al.). 4th edition: 4 .verbesserte und erweiterte Auflage. Berlin: Henschel Verlag, 1991.Notes, includes index, bibliography, brief biographies of prominent persons buried there, but excludes Heerstrasse. ISBN:3362005578; (DS135.G4 B45446 1991) [1st ed. Was 1987]. at Leo Baeck Institute : ID # GT 3250 B4 E7Die juedischen Friedhoefe in Ostdeutschland ; Michael Brocke, etc.see details under DDR in General Section. Title, Stein und Name, "reference at ", 3380, book, 3/25/1998, "BROCKE Michael, Eckeharticlet RUTHENBERG, Kai Uwe SCHULENBURG", title:, Die juedischen Friedhoefe in Ostdeutschland (Neue Bundesl�nder/DDR und Berbookn), Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1994, 720 p.,German, 3-923095-149-8 Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. about books among the collection at the Jewish Museum of Belgium.Ein altberlinischer Friedhof. Beer, J.: -In: Die Gegenwart (Berlin) 1 (1867), S. 142. Source: AE [sic]Ein Besuch auf dem alten juedischen Friedhofe zu Berlin.-In: Der Israelit 6 (1865), Nr. 44-45. Source: AE [sic]
Juedische Assimilation im Spiegel der Grabsteine auf dem Friedhof Berlin-Weissensee [von] Claudia Albert und Burkhard Baltzer. [Tuebingen, Stauffenburg Verlag, 1989] 201]-216 p. illus. 24 cm. Detached from Zeitschrift fuer Semiotik, Bd. 11, Heft 2-3, 1989. ID #GT 3250 B4 1 Source: Leo Baeck InstituteJuedische Friedhoefe in Berlin von A. Etzold, P. Kirchner und H. Knobloch. Berlin: 1980. 64 p. illus., plans. 23 cm. (Historische Friedhoefe in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, Heft 1)At head of cover title: Denkmalpflege in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Bibliography: p. 63. ID # GT 3250 B4 B46 Source: Leo Baeck Institute
Juedische Grabstaetten und Friedhoefe in Berlin; eine Dokumentation, by Andreas Nachama, Hermann Simon and Alfred Etzold [author of main text]. Berlin: Hentrich 1992 (Staetten der Geschichte Berlins 67), ISBN 3-89468-035-0, 194 pp.[catalog of an exhibition shown at the Weissensee cemetery in 1992, focusses on Schoenhauser Allee and Weissensee; text, name index. (DS135.G4 B45448 1992) at Leo Baeck Institute : ID # GT 3250 B4 J8 Source: Leo Baeck InstituteGermany, Berbookn, Steinerne Zeugen. St�dten des Judenverfolgung in Berbookn,1127, book 000202, 1/11/1983, "WIPPERMANN Wolfgang, GALINSKI Heinz", title:, Herausgegeben von Padagogischen Zentrum, 1982, 116 p.,Source: Daniel Dratwa about books in the collection at the Jewish Museum of Belgium. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Germany, Berbookn-Koeln,"Der Juedische Friedhof in journal, review udental",3204, exhibition catelog, 10/28/1997, "BEZ Ludwig, GOREN Haim, ANTMANN Situtunga Michal, GRAF Ulrich", title:,Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 1996, German, 3-17-014161-9 Records of the Jewish community of Berlin from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including .. cemetery lists and tombstone inscriptions, and MANY other things; various languages: Donor: H. Jacobson, 1969; Finding Aids: 39-page inventory; Period covered (or date of publication): 1660-1958; Size of the collection: 18 feet 37 reels. below item# and description of item: 2. I 39 Pinkas (record book) of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society) of Berlin, 1675-1827, photocopy, Hebrew. 3. I 74 Old Berlin "Kuntress" (Memorial Book, etc.)--copy of the Hebrew manuscript 1796 and German notes. 17. I 49 Berlin Jewry, register of names, marriages and deaths, 1751-1813, original.
52. D. DEATHS: I 34 N.T.S. Death list, Berlin, 1751-1813, photocopy, Hebrew.
53. I 18 Death list, Berlin, 1751-1801, photocopy, Hebrew.
54. I 5 Death list, 1818-1829, photocopy (p. 1 missing from this and original).
55. I 6 Death list, 1830-1837, photocopy.
56. I 44 Death register, Berlin, 1847-1855, photocopy by Reichsstelle fuer Sippenforschung. 57. VIII 56c (microfilm reel 3 a.r.b.) Band 21, Judenregister Berlni, deaths 1841-1847, microfilm. 58. VIII 56b (see I 44) Judenregister, Berlin, deaths, 1847-1855, Microfilm from Preuss. Hauptarchiv, Berlin, Band 52.
59. II 31 2 Death certificate, Berlin, 1872, photocopy. F. Cemetery registers and lists of gravestone inscriptions: I 17 Inscriptions and dates of death, taken from gravestones at the Schoenhauser Allee cemetery, Berlin, 19th century, photocopy.
64. I 20-32 Inscriptions from gravestones in the old Jewish cemetery of Berlin, Grosse Hamburgerstrasse 26, with notes by L. Landshuth, 13 volumes, mainly Hebrew, photocopy.
65. I 35 Alphabetic list of all those buried in the Jewish cemetery of Berlin since 1671, photocopy.
66. I 56 Alphabetical register of all those buried in the old Jewish cemetery of Berlin, 1671-1827 (by first Hebrew name). Source: Leo Baeck Institute
Wegweiser durch das juedische Berlin; Geschichte und Gegenwart, by Nicola Galliner et al. Berlin: Nicolai 1987, ISBN 3-87584-165-4, 388 pp. (guide book incl. cemeteries): pp. 284-359; (DS135.G4 B477 1987)

For a history of the community click here. [June 2002]
For Jewish Berlin today.
For information about the Jewish cemeteries click here. [January 2001]
UPDATE: Last weekend (Oct. 1999) suspected Neo-Nazis vandalized about 100 graves at the Jewish Cemetery at Weissensee in Berlin. My Berlin friend who visited the cemetery after the attack reported that the damage was confined to burial fields C1 and F1, both located in the western corner near the front end (Herbert Baum Strasse entrance) of the cemetery. Here is an excerpt from last week's New York Times article about the attack: "The headstones were among more than 100 that were smashed, knocked over or otherwise desecrated at the Weissensee Jewish cemetery in what the police said appeared to have been a Neo-Nazi attack during the weekend. Eitan Laserstein, the caretaker at the cemetery, in the northeastern part of Berlin, said it seemed probable that the attack took place on Sunday, a national holiday commemorating the unification of Germany nine years ago. 'This looks like a Neo-Nazi way of celebrating unity,' he said. Swastikas were also daubed on a monument to the Jews deported by the Nazis from Berlin. The cemetery was closed for the Jewish Sabbath and the national holiday, and the attack was discovered only on Monday. The police cordoned off the affected area. One policeman at the scene said that 103 graves had been damaged and that fingerprints had been found on some of them." Source: Steven Fischbach, Providence, Rhode Island USA; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [Oct 1999]

[UPDATE] Kehilla Links page [October 2014]

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