University of Mannheim Student Uncovers History of Large Jewish Cemetery in Bödigheim

The Jewish cemetery in Bödigheim near Buchen is one of the largest in the southwest – and hardly anyone knows about it. Student Philipp Meder from the University of Mannheim has traced its history.

Jewish people have lived in the Odenwald since 1345. Over the centuries, Jewish communities of more than 100 people settled even in the smallest towns, building synagogues and mikvahs – Jewish baths. In Bödigheim near Buchen there is also an important Jewish cemetery. However, this has so far been known mainly through research. Even people who live in the area knew little about it.

History student Philipp Meder from the University of Mannheim researched the history of the cemetery as part of a project seminar at the Historical Institute. He found that it is similar in size to the large and far more famous cemeteries in the cities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz. “It is extraordinary that such a large and more than 500-year-old cemetery can be found in a rural area,” says Meder.

Jews from the entire area were probably buried here as early as the Middle Ages. The oldest grave that can still be seen today dates from 1628. The inscriptions on many even older gravestones are almost indecipherable. It is estimated that a total of over 4,000 people were buried in the cemetery – the last around 1940.

“It is important to me that the Jews who lived in the region are not forgotten,” says Meder. Anyone who wants to visit the place, however, must first contact the Buchen City Archives. And this happens frequently: to this day, the tranquil Bödigheim regularly receives visitors from the USA – descendants of people who are buried here.