Jewish Cemetery (Deckstein)
Reserved for Orthodox Jews only: until 1945, devout Jews from Cologne and from Rhenish and Westphalian communities were buried here in plain, unadorned graves.
Like all Jewish cemeteries in Cologne, this site belongs to the Synagogue Community of Cologne, which also manages it. As a piece of historic cultural heritage, it is a protected monument.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- Jewish cemetery, closed to further burials
- Location
- Decksteiner Viertel, in Cologne's Lindenthal district
- Established
- 1910
- Size
- still about 2,700 m² today
- Graves
- around 300, with 298 gravestones from the first half of the 20th century
- Access
- only via a private path off Decksteiner Straße; not open to the public
- Neighbor
- to the east lies the former municipal Decksteiner Friedhof, now used as a park
At the cemetery, the prayer hall and the mortuary room were given separate roofs so that even observant Kohanim, who are not permitted to come into contact with the dead, could still attend the funeral service.
A Cemetery for the Devout
The land was purchased and laid out by the separatist congregation Adass Jeschurun. Its request for a separate plot for its members in the Jewish cemetery in Deutz had been rejected. The design reflects this congregation's ideals: the graves have no decoration, and the headstones are kept simple. Most bear only Hebrew lettering.
Consideration for the Kohanim
Under religious law, Kohanim, members of the priestly line, may not come into contact with the dead. So that observant Kohanim could also attend the funeral service, the prayer hall and the mortuary had separate roofs.
History
The cemetery was desecrated in 1927 and again in 1933. The suspected Nazi Party members were never held accountable. In 1936, the cemetery received human remains from the dissolved Judenbüchel. After the war, two plots (Decksteiner Str. 45 and 47) were taken from the purchased, not yet used land for development.
The Grave of Therese Wallach
In 1986, the grave of Therese Wallach (1895–1942) was discovered in the cemetery. She had headed the Abraham Frank House, a Jewish orphanage. The following year, former residents donated a gravestone in her honor. She is also commemorated by a Stolperstein ("stumbling stone") in Köln-Braunsfeld.
Timeline
- 1910Site acquired by Adass Jeschurun and cemetery established
- 1927Cemetery desecrated
- 1933Cemetery desecrated again
- 1936Remains transferred from the dissolved Judenbüchel cemetery
- 1945Burials continued until this year
- 1986Grave of Therese Wallach found at the cemetery
- 1987Gravestone for Therese Wallach donated by former orphanage wards
Map
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Sources & links
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-10-21
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