The old Jewish cemetery in Attendorn is located on the street “Am Himmelsberg” on the outskirts of downtown and is listed as a historic monument in the corresponding cadastre of the city of Attendorn.
The marginalization of Jews was evident even in earlier times in Attendorn, as shown by the degrading site that had been assigned to them for the burial of their dead. Jewish burials took place at the edge of a steep footpath on the “Himmelsberg” in the direction of Ennest. The earliest evidence of this dates back to 1830, the year in which Hendel Klein and Schaft Mai were buried.
In 1864, the royal government in Arnsberg granted permission to expand the burial ground. However, before permission could be granted, the property had to be transferred to the Jewish community.
Documents from the Attendorn City Archives, File B 254, page 229, state: “A Jewish cemetery is to be built in Attendorn.” In this context, the district administrator requests information on whether the cemetery is to be a public Jewish burial ground or a private cemetery for individual families. Furthermore, he needs to know whether there is running water or a well nearby.”
As early as 1928, plans were made to expand the cemetery. The Attendorn City Archives, Schützengesellschaft SG 60 deposit, page 137, state: “Minutes of the meeting of the shooting club’s board at the Hotel Kaiserhof; Present at the meeting were Captain Josef Biecker, Ewald Heiderhoff, Anton Viegener, Josef Teipel, Peter Kampschulte, Robert Hamers, Otto Siepe, Franz Frey, Erich Rodomski, Paul Bettig, Carl Hesse, and Felix Stumpf Jr. Request from the Jewish community for the sale of a strip of land on the Himmelsberg to expand the cemetery. After thorough discussion, it was decided to first conduct a site visit on one of the coming Sundays. Afterward, the Jewish community’s request is to be placed back on the agenda of an executive board meeting.”
The last funeral at the Jewish cemetery took place in secret on July 25, 1942. On that day, Emil Stern, who had voluntarily taken his own life to escape deportation to Dortmund and from there to one of the extermination camps, was buried by Christian friends.
Today, 33 graves remain on the approximately 1,000 m² plot, two of which have no headstones. Some of the inscriptions, particularly those on the older sandstone headstones in the front section, are now very difficult to decipher. Several gravestones are inscribed on both sides, in German and Hebrew.
The Jewish cemetery is now owned by the Regional Association of Jewish Communities of Westfalen-Lippe, headquartered in Dortmund. In close coordination with the cemetery administration and the City of Attendorn’s Public Works Department, the Jewish cemetery is maintained regularly and on a rotating basis by the secondary schools in Attendorn.
PARKING
The Jewish Cemetery “Am Himmelsberg” is located on a dead-end street with limited parking. Visitors arriving by car are advised to use the “Feuerteich” parking lot between Westwall and Truchseßgasse. From there, walk up Ennester Weg toward the Jewish Cemetery.
CEMETERY RULES
- Please respect the peace of the deceased.
- Please be sure to leave the small stones placed on the gravestones where they are. Removing these stones is considered desecration of a grave.
- Male visitors are required to wear a hat or cap.
COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE AT THE CEMETERY
In August 1982, a plaque commemorating the members of the former Jewish community was unveiled at the Jewish Cemetery in Attendorn during a small ceremony held in conjunction with an exchange program between students from the town of Binyamina in Israel and students from the two Attendorn high schools, Rivius Gymnasium and St. Ursula Gymnasium, a plaque was unveiled in memory of the members of the former Jewish community. During the memorial service, Rabbi Emil Davidovic and Gerhard Gabriel Stern, a native of Attendorn living in Jerusalem, recited the Kaddish prayers.
The memorial plaque, like the one in the city center, was designed by Attendorn-based sculptor Karl-Josef Hoffmann.
GUIDED TOURS:
The Jewish Cemetery is open to the public and can also be visited as part of the “Jewish Attendorn” city tour.
With the historic Jewish cemetery, the memorial plaque commemorating Kristallnacht in November 1938, and a total of 14 “Stumbling Stones” in the city center, Attendorn offers traces of “Jewish life” that expert and author Hartmut Hosenfeld guides participants through with extensive Wissen, fascinating anecdotes, moments of reflection, and the occasional “Yiddish joke.”
• Duration: approx. 120 minutes
• Booking & Info: Hartmut Hosenfeld, 02722-7123 or hartmuthosenfeld@t-online.de; alternatively, Tom Kleine, Tel. 0171-1198273 or info@juedisch-in-attendorn.org
• Cost: €30.00 for groups and school classes. These funds will be donated to the “Hupendo School” in Kangemi, a slum in Nairobi (Kenya) with more than 100,000 residents.
Hike
In collaboration with the Attendorn branch of the SGV, the Julius-Ursell-Weg was opened in 2018. This approximately 10-kilometer-long trail—Germany’s first Jewish-themed hiking trail—was designed as part of the “Shalom Attendorn 2018” project in memory of Julius Ursell, a Jewish man. Until the Nazis came to power in 1933, Ursell served as treasurer and trail maintenance supervisor for the SGV and was responsible for marking the hiking trails in Attendorn.
The hiking trail passes by former sites of Jewish life in Attendorn’s city center as well as the tourist highlight “BiggeBlick” next to the SGV hut above Biggesee. The route, tourist highlights, a downloadable hiking brochure, and information about the individual stops can be found here: https://www.juedisch-in-attendorn.org/julius-ursell-weg/streckenverlauf-highlights-infos/
THE CEMETERY IN THE EPIDAT DATABASE
The Attendorn Jewish Cemetery was added to the EPIDAT database of the Salomon Ludwig Steinheim Institute for German-Jewish History at the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2021: http://www.steinheim-institut.de/cgi-bin/epidat?id=att&lang=de