Guided tour of the Jewish cemetery in Wankheim on the occasion of the European Day of Jewish Culture AEPJ - Association Européene pour la Préservation du Patrimoine Juif. Organize by Gedenkstättenverbund Gäu-Neckar-Alb. The Jewish cemetery in Wankheim is located north of the B28 (coordinates: 48 ° 30'31.1 "N 9 ° 06'03.3" E)

In 1774, four to five Jewish families from Wankheim leased land and laid a cemetery on it. They paid a lease of up to three guilders a year. The oldest grave dates from 1788/89 and, like other tombs from that time, has a Hebrew lettering and no grave border.

The Israelite community Wankheim strove since 1843 to purchase the cemetery grounds for sale. Since the Wankheim local council demanded a large amount for this, the negotiations dragged on, even with the involvement of the relevant higher authorities, over four years. The Jewish community acquired the cemetery 1845-1848. In 1863 the cemetery was extended.

Around 1900, the cemetery was extended again, as on him until 1941, the deceased in Tübingen and Reutlingen Jewish persons were buried. In the cemetery there is a memorial stone for 14 people perished from the Jewish community of Tübingen in the persecution period 1933-1945. It was built by Viktor Marx, who survived the imprisonment in several camps. The first three names are those of the dead from his own family:

• Marga Marx (1909–1942)
• Ruth Marx (1933–1942)
• Blanda Marx (1878–1942).
• Max Löwenstein
• Sophie Löwenstein
• Ilse Löwenstein
• Salomo Spiro
• Karoline Spiro
• Martha Spiro
• Elfriede Spiro
• Hans Spiro
• Edwin Spiro
• Anne Erlanger

The last tombstone dates from 1941. In 1943, the community Wankheim took over the cemetery. In 1949, the burial site was returned as part of the restitution to the Israelite Cultural Association Württemberg in Stuttgart, which is today the owner.

History of the Jewish Community

In the imperial Wankheim a Jewish community existed until 1882. It was built in the second half of the 18th century. David Dessauer from Nordstetten was granted permission to settle by the landlords of Wankheim, the barons of Saint-André. The Wankheim local ruler Frederick Daniel of Saint-André allowed four Jews against a "protective charge" the settlement in his village. They were followed by several families from Unterdeufstetten, Braunsbach and Haigerloch. The families traded in junk products, livestock, hop bars and other goods as well as other agricultural products.

There was a synagogue, a religious school, a ritual bath and the cemetery. In the 19th century, a teacher was temporarily employed to attend the religious duties of the congregation, who at the same time worked as a preacher and a chess member. 1832, the community was assigned to the district rabbi Mühringen.

The arrival of additional families created a Jewish community, which in 1807 had a total of 23 members and rapidly grew in the following years. By 1844 there were 118 Jewish inhabitants in 25 households. Most Jewish families began to emigrate as early as 1806, when five Jewish families moved from Wankheim to Esslingen with the special permission of King Frederick I of Württemberg. After 1860, many Wankheim Jews moved to Tübingen and Reutlingen. In 1886 only one Jew lived in Wankheim.