IV. Buildings Integral to the Former Life and/or Persecution of Jews in Altona.23. No. 43 Försterweg.
In 1867 the Hamburg Jewish community reformed its constitution. Thereafter it had an extremely flexible structure. The community assumed responsiblity for cemeteries and burial. This led to administrative improvements and the resolution of the two burial brotherhoods, the old Chevra Kadischa and the new burial society, into a community body. In Hamburg there had always been tension between traditional and reformed views regarding burial. At the end of the 1880s this conflict came to a head. Members of the Chevra Kadischa accused the burial society of violating the burial regulations and argued that the community had "the responsibility to guarantee the existence of the holy Chevra Kadischa". The latter invited people to subscribe for shares for a new cemetery should it not be possible to bury orthodox Jews separately from reformed Jews in the new cemetery, i.e members of the Synagogue Association from members of the Temple Association. Twenty years later Chief Rabbi Anschel Stern (1820-1888) initiated the move to acquire a new cemetery. He had influential supporters such as Samson Philip Nathan but more importantly the religious members of the Alten and Neuen Klaus. This move questioned whether in the future it was possible for the community to bury their dead in the common main cemetery in the district of Ohlsdorf, as the land reserved for the Jewish cemetery was to belong formally to the city of Hamburg. The contract between the Senat and the Jewish community was signed on 19.06.1882. What the community was guaranteed in terms of use of the land as a cemetery practically amounted to ownership. This was unsatisfactory to Chief Rabbi Stern and his supporters. Chief Rabbi Stern threatened "to independently go about acquiring a cemetery that would meet ritual prescriptions". He asked the board of the Synagogue Association to intervene with the community administration: "In this case it is not a matter of cemetery finance or administration but rather a religious issue over which the rabbi appointed and authorized by the Synagogue Associationis has sole competence". After the community had decided for the use of the Ohlsdorf cemetery it was inaugurated "in the presence of a large number of community members". However, they had to dispense with the chief rabbi's consecration. Later, Stern's supporters argued that, had there been an alternative, "only a few community members would have supported the community decision regarding the use of the Ohlsdorf cemetery". While the Chevra Kadischa sought support from the community board the first burials took place in Ohlsdorf. In 1887 Stern's initiative succeeded in purchasing land for a cemetery in Langenfelde from the Schleswig government. The land was owned by the Alten and Neuen Klaus. Rabbi Stern was one of the first to be buried in the Langenfelde cemetery. Nathan is also buried there.
The "Israelite Burial Brotherhood Langenfelde" ("Israelitische Beerdigungsbrüderschaft Langenfelder")
was established to perform burials in the new cemetery. The "conservative" Langenfelde members were
independent of the community burial institution. In opposition the new Chief Rabbi Mordechai Hirsch
was appointed honorary president of the Chevra Kadischa and declared himself prepared "to decide all
religious questions according to religious law and actively work for the Chevra Kadischa regarding
the community board." The Langenfelde Burial Brotherhood operated as a private organisation in
accordance with society law and sought recognition as a registered society.
German text:
Dr. Erika Hirsch:
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