Support for the Jewish Cemetery Network
Rödelsee Jewish Cemetery Network
One of the most important Jewish cemeteries in Bavaria is the one in Rödelsee at the foot of the Schwanberg, which was first mentioned in a document in 1432. Numerous Jewish communities from the surrounding area were buried here. Like no other place in the south of Lower Franconia, it offers the opportunity to become the center of a network of offers that contribute to the understanding of non-Christian cultures in the region using the example of the Franconian Jews. Different target groups can experience the value of respectful coexistence here and internalize this as a benchmark for the future.
For connoisseurs, the cemetery represents "more than stones". In recent decades, its material and non-material substance has been recorded in detail, mostly by interested amateurs. Christian Reuther and other photographers documented the gravestones and inscriptions around 25 years ago, while Michael Schneeberger and others researched the biographies and family histories of those buried, placing them in the context of the respective local Jewish history of the villages.
The Association for the Promotion of the Former Kitzingen Synagogue has maintained and continues to maintain contact with Jewish descendants. The demand for guided tours of the cemetery, which the association organizes, has continued to grow in recent years.
Jewish objects and monuments have recently been restored in various places in the district, e.g. the former synagogues in Obernbreit and Wiesenbronn.
These individual measures are linked in the planned "Rödelsee Jewish cemetery network". On the one hand, this takes historical logic into account: the rabbinical cemetery was the burial place for the Jews in the area. On the other hand, the publication, availability and dissemination of research findings on local Jewish history in a modern format will open up new connections for people in the present and future.
Individual Jewish cemeteries have also been opened up in other places in recent years (Schnaittach, Kleinsteinach), but the planned project in the Kitzingen region has an unusual dimension due to the connection to around 15 localities and the scientific research that has already been carried out in advance.
The network makes it possible to experience these regional cultural assets and to further strengthen them by networking the players and activities.
