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Origin and history

The Jewish cemetery of Selestat, located in the Lower Rhine, was created around 1622 on the initiative of the provosts of the Jews of the communities of Bergheim, Ribeauvillé and Dambach-la-Ville. This funeral place, located at the address Judenbrunnen and rue du Cimetière-Israeli, was designed to meet the needs of local Jewish populations. It underwent several expansions, notably in 1699, and several times in the 18th century, reflecting the demographic and cultural growth of these communities.

The oldest still visible on the site dates from 1666 and commemorates the memory of a rabbi named Moses, native to Dambach-la-Ville. The cemetery was bounded by engraved pillars of the Hebrew letters Bet Ain, meaning Bet Olam (House of Eternity). Unlike many religious sites of the time, it was spared during the French Revolution, thus preserving a rare funeral heritage.

In 1992, part of the cemetery, including its fence wall and 33 steles, was protected as historical monuments. This protection was reinforced in 1995 by an official classification covering the historical part of the site and its land. The cemetery is now managed by a cult association and remains an architectural and spiritual testimony of Jewish traditions in Alsace in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The entrance gate, decorated with funerary symbols carved on its lintel, as well as the ancient bounds found, illustrate the symbolic and religious importance of this place. The successive enlargements (1699, 1719, 1733) attest to its continued use by Jewish personalities in the region, reinforcing its central role in collective memory.

The available sources, including Wikipedia and Monumentum, highlight the historic value of the site, which is classified as one of the remarkable monuments of the Lower Rhine. Its exact address, rue du Cimetière-Israelite in Séletat, and its Insee code (67462) confirm its territorial anchor in the Great East, Alsace.

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