Judensand
Jewish cemeteries are the most important and significant testimonies to the history of Jewish people in Germany. In Mainz, the Old Jewish Cemetery ‘Judensand’, with nearly 1,700 historic gravestones, is a key component of the World Heritage Series – alongside the preserved sites in Speyer and Worms.
Many of the gravestones date back to the 11th century, and so the ‘Judensand’ in Mainz is regarded, alongside the ‘Heiligen Sand’ in Worms, as the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe.
Graves dating from the 15th to the 19th century
The cemetery site was originally situated outside the medieval town and stretched along the former Roman arterial road, now known as Mombacher Straße. It served as the burial ground for Jewish men and women from Mainz and the surrounding area.
Following the dissolution of the Jewish community in the 15th century, it gradually re-established itself in the 17th century. The remaining lower section of the ‘Judensand’ now contains gravestones dating from around 1700 to 1880, when the cemetery was finally closed. For visitors, only this lower part of the ‘Judensand’ is accessible via the designated path.
View of the cemetery
Unique: the historic cemetery
On several occasions throughout its eventful history, the eternal rest of the dead has been disturbed. When the Jewish community of Mainz was expelled in 1438, the townspeople cleared away the medieval gravestones and used them as building material.
The cemetery grounds were leased out by the city council as a vineyard. It was not until the 19th century that many of these Jewish gravestones, which had been used as building material, were accidentally unearthed again within the city limits, near the Gautor or on the banks of the Rhine.
The Mainz rabbis Siegmund Salfeld and Sali Levi gathered the rediscovered gravestones in the upper, unused part of the cemetery grounds to form what is known as a ‘memorial cemetery’, which was inaugurated in 1926. The arrangement of the stones is rather haphazard and not – as was originally customary at this site – oriented towards the east, towards Jerusalem.
Although the SchUM communities along the Rhine were repeatedly subjected to violence and expulsions, the Jewish heritage in these towns has endured through the ages as a unique testament to, and a living part of, Ashkenazi Judaism.
The Old Jewish Cemetery ‘Judensand’ in Mainz has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since summer 2021, alongside the ‘Heiliger Sand’ cemetery in Worms and the synagogues and mikvahs in Speyer and Worms. The decisive criteria for their selection as World Heritage sites were the historical authenticity and integrity of the cultural sites.
Graves of the Scholars
Many of the gravestones and memorial stones in the memorial cemetery, such as those of Meschullam ben Rabbana’, Rabbi Kalonymos and Jakob ben Jakar from the early 11th century, remain relevant to Jews from all over the world to this day. The oldest Jewish gravestone in Central Europe, that of Jehuda ben Schneor – now in the National Museum – dates from the year 1049. Entry to the Memorial Cemetery is permitted only for religious reasons.
Gershom ben Yehuda – a role model to this day
Among the rediscovered medieval artefacts found within the city limits was the memorial stone of Gerschom ben Jehuda – known as the ‘Light of the Exile’. He was active in Mainz around the turn of the millennium as one of the most influential scholars in the Western world, whose legal rulings and decrees remained valid for centuries after his death.
Although the SchUM communities along the Rhine were repeatedly targets of violence and expulsions, the Jewish heritage in these towns has endured through the ages as a unique testament to and a living part of Ashkenazi Judaism.
On the portal of the New Synagogue, built in 2010, the inscription ‘MEOR HA GOLA’ (‘Light of the Exile’) refers to the great figure of Gershom ben Yehuda. In this way, today’s Jewish community draws on the historical significance of Magenza from 1,000 years ago.
