Obj. ID: 33859
Jewish Funerary Art Jewish Cemetery in Alba Iulia, Romania
A large cemetery of Alba Iulia is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Transylvania. It includes two distinct sections. The old section is dominated by the ohel of Rabbi Yehezkel Paneth (d. 1845, Fig. 46). It consists of tombstones of the late 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries. All are of traditional stelae form, some containing images and well written Hebrew script.
The new section on a hill contains typical obelisks of the late 19th and early 20th centuries made by tombstone makers from Alba Iulia (S. Stef, K. Quillmann), as well as from Arad (Brothers Rózsa) and Mediaș (Klingenspohr). Many of modern tombstones are inscribed with the mother’s name of the deceased which demonstrates the influence of Kabbala, for mother’s name is obligatory in Kabbalistic formulas. Four large mausoleums are situated near the entrance of the cemetery. They are preserved intact, including dry wreaths kept there from the time of the last funerals before WWII.
A modest ceremonial hall was built in 1874, according to a stone dedicatory plaque in its wall. The gates to the cemetery were constructed in 1907.
For the cemetery chapel see here.
