Sprache | Language | בחירת שפה
When Jews resettled in Coburg after 1806, the question of a Jewish cemetery arose. For a long time, the town council refused permission for anti-Judaic, and thus still religious, reasons. It was not until 1849 that they allowed the Jewish Simon family to establish their own cemetery on the road to Neuses in an open field. By 1902, 18 burials had taken place there. The cemetery was not accessible to other Jewish families.
Therefore, in 1870, the Jews who had recently arrived in Coburg asked the town to establish their own burial ground east of the municipal cemetery on Glockenberg. The Jewish community (the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde) purchased the land in 1873, after receiving official approval. For a fee, the Jews were allowed to use the mortuary and the hearse.
The first burial took place in 1874. In the Jewish tradition, it is essential that graves and bodies remain undisturbed until the Day of Judgment. It is believed that only by remaining intact in the earth can the dead be resurrected. Nevertheless, in the 1920s, the first Jews in Coburg had their bodies cremated, showing a certain detachment from religion or a particular willingness to integrate.
However, the rise of antisemitism after 1918 led to the Jewish cemetery being desecrated by unknown perpetrators in 1923. In 1936, the town banned Jews from using the mortuary. At the same time, they were no longer allowed to enter the Christian part of the cemetery. As a result, even the dead had to be carried around the perimeter of the cemetery grounds to be laid to rest. However, the Jewish cemetery itself was not destroyed by the Nazis.
Today, the cemetery spans roughly 1,450 square metres and is the final resting place of around 200 Jews. A large memorial stone at the entrance commemorates the names of Jews who died in the First World War. The last burial took place in 1988.
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The Jewish boarding school on Hohe Straße offered safety and learning until 1938, when it was closed by force and its director persecuted during the Nazi era.
About the Path of remembrance
The memorial path “Jewish Life in Coburg” commemorates the city’s Jewish community in 14 stations. These stations trace the history from the community’s integration into Coburg’s civic life in the mid-19th century to its annihilation following the early seizure of power by the National Socialists.
Jewish citizens were an integral part of Coburg’s community for decades. Under National Socialism, the Jewish community and its members were eradicated. They had to flee or were murdered. It is our responsibility to keep the memory of their contributions and suffering alive in the town of Coburg.
In 2023 the Coburg town council decided to commemorate Jewish life in Coburg with a memorial path through the town. The memorial path was officially inaugurated on 31 July 2025.