The city of Mainz is constructing a new visitors’ center at the historic Old Jewish Cemetery, which has gravestones dating from the 11th century to the late 19th century.
Mainz, along with nearby Worms and Speyer, comprise the three so-called “ShUM” cities on the Rhine, which combined to form a major Jewish center in the middle ages. Their linked history and surviving medieval Jewish heritage were included on the roster of UNESCO world heritage sites in 2021.
The Old Jewish Cemetery in Mainz dates from the early 11th century, one of the oldest in Europe. It includes around 1,700 gravestones, most from the 17th-19th centuries. Its earliest gravestones were lost, destroyed or scattered over the centuries.
In 1926 180 medieval tombstones and fragments from the destroyed Mainz cemetery that had been rediscovered in the course of construction work over the years, were re-erected in a Memorial or Monument Cemetery. They date from the 11th to the early 15th century — the oldest stone, dating from 1049 — that of Jehuda ben Schneor — is currently in the Mainz State Museum.
(Stones are still being recovered — in 2021, 18 medieval Jewish gravestones were discovered during construction work in the old town of Mainz. They were built into a wall along the Rhine river following 15th century pogroms that saw the expulsion of Jews from the city and destruction of the Jewish cemetery.)
Planning for the visitor center began in 2021, and work on it began in September 2024. The city says that the center is due to open in 2026.
It “will be built on an elevated platform that offers a fascinating view over the cemetery and its old trees,” the city said. “The balcony-like square will allow visitors not only a special perspective on the gravestones, but also will create a meeting place that invites you to pause and reflect.”
The design includes enclosure of the medieval Memorial Cemetery, a roofed area and patio at the entrance, a parking area, pathways, and plantings. The city said access to the graves will be limited; tourist visits will be kept to “a circular route will allow all visitors fascinating views of the valuable gravestones.”
At the same time, work continues on the conservation and restoration of the inscriptions and stabilization of gravestones. That work is being carried out as part of an 11-year project financed by Mainz in cooperation with the German Foundation for Monument Protection.
“Since 2023, 100 inscriptions have already been secured, and by 2033 we will be renovating half of the 1,700 gravestones,” city cultural official Marianne Grosse said one year ago.
“In the future, the new visitor centre will serve as a central point of contact for all those who are interested in the history, architecture and cultural-historical significance of the Old Mainz Cemetery,” an article on the BYC news site in July 2025 said.
It is not only intended to offer modern exhibition spaces, but also offers service and information areas for tourists, school classes and interested parties. With this project, the city pursues the goal of making the historical area more accessible and at the same time sustainably tangible.
Mainz also has a New Jewish Cemetery (from the late 19th century) and a modern synagogue that opened in 2010.
Read the announcement of the center by the city, September 2024