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Former Jewish cemetery à Neuwiller-lès-Saverne dans le Bas-Rhin

Bas-Rhin

Former Jewish cemetery

    5 Impasse des Cigognes
    67330 Neuwiller-lès-Saverne
Ancien cimetière juif
Ancien cimetière juif
Ancien cimetière juif
Ancien cimetière juif
Crédit photo : Pascal Radigue - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
1260
First Hebrew inscription
1335
First Jewish attestation
1550
End of medieval inscriptions
1668
Certified Cemetery
1870
End of use
1999
Registration historical monument
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Former cemetery with its steles and wall of urban enclosure engraved with Hebrew inscriptions (see plan annexed to the file) (see 3 242 A and B, 243 A and B, 244 A and B, 246, 266, placed Le Bourg, 257 (5, impasse des Cigognes) , 497/256, 260, 262, 492/245, 494/247, placed Le Bourg, 267, 268 (rue d'Ingwiller) , 541/232, 542/232 (rue du Cerf) ) : inscription by order of 10 February 1999

Key figures

Gilbert Weil - History Studyed the 29 Hebrew inscriptions.

Origin and history

Neuwiller-lès-Saverne Jewish Cemetery is a historical monument located in the Lower Rhine, in the Greater East. Installed extramural along the northeastern wall of the city, it extends over seven discontinuous sections dated between 1260 and 1870. This cemetery is remarkable for its inscriptions in Hebrew characters engraved on the bellows of the enclosure wall, made between 1260 and 1550, making it the oldest Jewish cemetery known in Alsace. Unlike traditional cemeteries, it does not contain funeral steles, but names and abbreviations engraved directly on the wall, such as "Joseph, Jacob, Moses", often followed by the formula zikhrono li-vraha ("may his memory be blessed").

The history of the cemetery is closely linked to that of the Jewish community of Neuwiller, attested since 1335. The site, disused since the creation of a new cemetery in 1877, was organized in the ice (space between two walls of enclosure) and initially covered a length of 319 meters for a width of 4 to 5 meters. The inscriptions, 29 according to Gilbert Weil's study, use five different writing styles and date mainly from the medieval period to 1550. Four of the seven sections had epitaphs or alphabetical marks, while the later sections (especially between 1670 and 1870) retained steles that were now partially extinct or vandalized, such as those from 1849 to 1866.

The cemetery was listed as historic monuments in 1999 for its exceptional character. The protected elements include the wall of adjacent urban enclosure, engraved with Hebrew inscriptions, as well as the few remaining steles, notably in the property of 13 d'Ingwiller Street. Its unique fortification-side organization reflects the urban and religious constraints of the medieval era. The excavations and studies, like those of Gilbert Weil, underline the importance of this site to understand the life and funeral practices of Jewish communities in Alsace before the 19th century.

Architecturally, the cemetery is distinguished by its lack of material enclosures and its location in the ditches at the foot of the eastern courtine. The inscriptions, often limited to a first name followed by a pious abbreviation, bear witness to a sober and collective funeral tradition. The decommissioning of the site in 1877 and the destruction during the Second World War erased part of its heritage, but the remaining remains, especially on the enclosure wall, offer a valuable overview of seven centuries of local Jewish history. Today, the site is in free access, although its exact location (ingwiller street, stalemate of the Cigognes and Rue du Cerf) and its state of conservation call for a careful visit to capture its full historical reach.

External links