History

The cemetery developed in three stages. The oldest part was established in 1845, when the Chevra Kadisha of the Jewish community purchased a new burial lot for 18,000 Guilders. Until then, the old cemetery was used (a fragment of this has been preserved as the Chatam Sofer Memorial near the present-day tram tunnel), but this had filled up. As a result, the Orthodox Cemetery is sometimes referred to as the “New” Orthodox Cemetery. The first burial took place on February 4, 1846 (8th Shevat) and use of the old cemetery ceased in 1847.

The second enlargement of the cemetery was in 1926. The Orthodox community purchased about 1.2 hectares of land between the Jewish and the neighboring Catholic cemetery. Sections 1-3, 17 and the lower part of section 15 were established here. A cemetery chapel (1928-1929) and adjoining concrete terrace with access stairway and U-shaped access ramp were constructed on the southern part of the new land. The old cemetery chapel was subsequently demolished and a new supporting wall over the road constructed.

The cemetery was neglected during the communist period, as the Jewish community did not have the financial means or personnel to maintain the compound properly. The upper part of the cemetery gradually became forested by self-seeded trees and is not easily accessible. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, the Jewish community began the gradual rehabilitation of the compound. The cemetery is a listed monument under no. 10624/1-6 on the General List of Monuments.