48°46' N 10°27' E. Pforzheim is a town of nearly 120,000 inhabitants at the entry to the Black Forest, known for its jewelry and watch-making. Until 1565, this home to the Margraves of Baden gained the nickname "Goldstadt" or Golden City. With an area of 98 km² between the cities of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe at the confluence of three rivers (Enz, Nagold and Würm), Pforzheim marks the frontier between Baden and Württemberg but on Baden territory. Pforzheim has the functions of a regional center (Mittelzentrum) for the towns and municipalities Birkenfel (Enz), Eisingen, Engelsbrand, Friolzheim, Heimsheim, Ispringen, Kämpfelbach, Keltern, Kieselbronn, Königsbach-Stein, Mönsheim, Neuenbürg, Neuhausen, Neulingen,Niefern-Öschelbronn, Ölbronn-Dürrn, Remchingen, Straubenhardt, Tiefenbronn, Wiernsheim, Wimsheim and Wurmberg. Pforzheim is located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. The City of Pforzheim belongs to no administrative district (Kreis), although it hosts the administrative offices of Enz district that surrounds the town. During WWII, Pforzheim was bombed a number of times. About one quarter of the town's population, over 17,000 people, were killed in an air raid and about 83% of the town's buildings destroyed. The town was thought by the Allies to be producing precision instruments for use in the German war effort and to be a transport center for the movement of German troops. The story of the bombardment is dramatically recounted in the 2011 history book by Giles Milton, entitled Wolfram: The Boy Who Went To War. After the war, rubble from the destruction was heaped into a large pile on Mount Wallberg and into the Brötzinger Tal valley on the outskirts of the town, resulting in a volcano-ish look of the mountain and the disappearance of the valley. Similar efforts were undertaken in other destroyed cities such as Stuttgart and Munich.. Jewish history. On Nov. 10, 1938, the synagogue was desecrated and partly demolished.183 Jews were deported to Gurs concentration camp on Oct. 22, 1940; 21 returned after the war. They were affiliated with the Karlsruhe community and possessed a new cemetery. A memorial was erected in 1967 on the site of the synagogue. In 1976 120 Jews lived in the city. In 1994 a Jewish community was founded in Pforzheim, numbering 434 in 2004. The majority are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. A new community center functioned since 2006. Wikipedia. [Mar 2013]
Germania Judaica, 2 (1968), 654-5; F. Hundsnurscher and G. Taddey, Die juedischen Gemeinden in Baden (1968); Salfeld, Martyrol, index; PK, Germanyah; G. Braendle (ed.), Gurs -Vorhoelle von Auschwitz. Antisemitismus in Pforzheim 1920-1980 (1980); idem, Die juedischen Mitbuerger der Stadt Pforzheim (1985); G. Braendle and W. Zink, Juedische Gottes haeuser in Pforzheim (1990); M. Preuss, Der juedische Friedhof auf der Schanz in Pforzheim (1994); G. Braendle, Juedisches Pforzheim. Einladung zur Spurensuche (Orte juedischer Kultur) (2001). WEBSITES. Jewish history. History. [Mar 2013]
Guide to the Pforzheim; Jewish Community Collection, AR 2035. [Mar 2013]
CEMETERY: photos. [Mar 2013]
75177 Baden-Württemberg (Gerz, Peters).
1. Old cemetery Eutinger Strasse (Detail).
IN USE: From 1846 until 1878.
NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES: 4 fragments.
DOCUMENTATION:
- 1994 Cemetery documentation by the State Office for Historic Monuments (Landesdenkmalamt).
- Numerous photographs of individual gravestones and general cemetery views in Alemannia Judaica.
- History by Theobald 1984, pages 79-80.
- History by Brändle 1985, pages 30, 33, 36 and 37.
- Alfred Udo Theobald: Der jüdische Friedhof. Zeuge der Geschichte - Zeugnis der Kultur pub.1984 in Karlsruhe: Badenia-Verlag. 103 pages (LBI).
- Joachim Hahn: Erinnerungen und Zeugnisse jüdischer Geschichte in Baden-Württemberg publ. 1988 page 434 (LBI).
- The Jewish cemetery in Obergrombach was used for burials prior to 1846.
- This cemetery was flattened in 1940 and the gravestones were destroyed. The area was reconstructed as a memorial with a memorial stone, between 1985 and 1988. Old gravestone fragments were embedded in the cemetery wall.
2. New cemetery postcode 75177 - on the east side of the main City cemetery close to Bernhardstrasse (Detail).
IN USE: From 1878 and still open.
NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES: 276 (1985).
DOCUMENTATION:
- 1985 photographs of all gravestones with mapping of graves by Zentralarchiv.
- 1994 cemetery documentation including above photographs by the Office for Historic Monuments (Landesdenkmalamt ed. Monika Preuss).
- Numerous photographs of individual gravestones and general cemetery views in Alemannia Judaica.
- Photographic survey by Hundsnurscher/Taddey 1968 fig.# 172.
- History by Brändle 1985, pages 31, 38 and 42.
- Hundsnurscher/Taddey 1968: history page 173; photographic survey fig.#124.
- Alfred Udo Theobald: Der jüdische Friedhof. Zeuge der Geschichte - Zeugnis der Kultur pub.1984 in Karlsruhe: Badenia-Verlag. 103 pages (LBI).
- Monika Preuss: Der jüdische Friedhof auf der Schanz in Pforzheim. Dokumentation der Grabinschriften, publ. 1994 (LBI).
- A commemorative plaque with information about the past was erected in 1983 at the entrance to the cemetery by the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Pforzheim (Pforzheim Jewish Community).
- In the spring of 2003 an additional Jewish cemetery was dedicated to serve both the orthodox and liberal communities of today’s Jewish community of Pforzheim. This latest Jewish cemetery is located in the northwest part of the main City cemetery close to Bernhardstrasse.
[Researched and translated from German August 2008]
To see information and photographs of individual gravestones in cemeteries in Baden-Wuerttemberg, click on this link and follow the directions on that page.