The oldest Jewish cemetery in Switzerland

In 1750, Jews of the Surbtal received permission to purchase land for their own cemetery. It is located at the mid-point between the two villages and accessible from both sides, each with its own entrance.

The cemetery at last gave the Jews of the Surbtal a nearby final resting place. Until then, they had to bury their deceased on an island in the Rhine River, near Koblenz, Switzerland, the so-called Judensäule (Jewish Column). The Surbtal cemetery is the oldest in Switzerland.

A resting place until the Messiah come

The cemetery contains around 2,700 graves and remains a place of living remembrance to this day. In accordance with Jewish tradition, resting places remain forever. No grave is removed or reused. Women, men and children are interred separately. Relatives honour the deceased by placing stones on their tombstones.

In Judaism, the deceased are usually buried with their feet facing east, towards Jerusalem, but here the graves run from north to south. No one knows why.

Changes and homecoming

From the mid-19th century onwards, social emancipation was reflected in the tombstones, with more and more inscriptions in German, alongside Hebrew ones. New forms began to replace the traditional steles. In addition to sandstone and shell limestone, marble was used as a material. Over the course of the 20th century, the cemetery was expanded and in 1963 was placed under cantonal landmark protection.

A glance at the places of death engraved on the tombstones shows that many Jews from the Surbtal once migrated far away, but returned home for their final resting place.

The House of Eternity

For Jews with Endingen or Lengnau roots, the cemetery remains important to this day and is far more than a place of interment. In Surbtal Yiddish, it is called beis oulem, or the “House of Eternity”.

Visits: Visits are possible, except on Shabbat (Friday evening to Saturday evening), when the cemetery is closed.