GENERAL
The web site of the Jewish Cultural Quarter has an interactive map and a detailed list of towns, cities and villages in the Netherlands, with links to historical information, photos, and information on heritage and heritage sites.
The Stone Archive: The Matsevot of the Ashkenazi Cemeteries in the Netherlands
A long-term joint digitization project of the Dutch Jewish Community and Akevoth (Dutch Jewish Genealogy organization). The project includes photographing, digitizing and uploading images of gravestones in Jewish cemeteries, translating the epitaphs, and mapping the cemeteries. Databases have been uploaded onto the site — which so far in only in Dutch. Akevoth ceased activities in 2020 but its web site archive still is online.
AMSTERDAM
Several key institutions and sites of Jewish heritage in the heart of the historic Jewish district of Amsterdam are formally linked as the Jewish Cultural Quarter, which was inaugurated on Oct. 23, 2012, the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish Historical Museum. They include the Jewish Historical Museum (located in four former synagogues), the important Ets Haim library, the JHM’s Children’s Museum, the Portuguese Synagogue, and the former Hollandsche Schouwburg theatre, which was turned into a detention center in 1942 and is now a war memorial, and the National Holocaust Museum.
The JCK’s web site has extensive digital resources on Jewish history and heritage in Amsterdam itself but also throughout the Netherlands (via its interactive national map).
There are several Jewish cemeteries in and around Amsterdam.
Jewish Cultural Quarter
Nieuwe Amstelstraat 1
1011 PL Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 5 310 310
Fax: +31 (0)20 5 310 311
The museum is housed in four former Ashkenazic synagogues dating from the 17th and 18th centuries: the New Synagogue (1752); the Great Synagogue (1671); the Obbene Shul (1685) and the Dritt Shut (1700/1778).
The Museum’s web site includes an interactive map and listings that provide addresses of nearly 40 Jewish Historical (and Other) Sites in Amsterdam, including synagogues, cemeteries, businesses, monuments, homes, and other places.
Mr. Visserplein 3
1011 RD Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)20 5 310 380
Known as the Esnoga or Snoge, the synagogue was inaugurated in 1675. It is still used for services but it also open to the public as part of the Jewish Cultural Quarter. It conserves an exceptional collection of Sepharidc ritual objects and sometimes holds concerts and special exhibits.
The synagogue was established by descendants of Sephardic refugees from Iberia: the arrangement follows Sephardic style, with the bimah and Ark at opposite ends of the sanctuary. When inaugurated, the stately brick building, with big arched windows was the largest synagogue in the world. The building survived World War II intact and, though restored various times over the centuries, retains its 17th century character.
Jewish Cemeteries
Beit Haim Jewish Cemetery — Ouderkerk aan de Amstel
Kerkstraat 10
Ouderkerk aan de Amstel
Mob. +31 (0) 6 5372 5335
Email: [email protected]
The historic Portuguese-Jewish cemetery in the village of Ouderkerk, about eight km from Amsterdam, dates from 1614 and is one of the oldest Sephardic cemeteries in Europe. Occupying four hectares, it includes more than 27,500 graves. most of them marked by flat slab tombstones in the Sephardic style. Many have very artistically carved decoration. Among those buried here are the parents of the philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Already a century ago, David Henriques de Castro catalogued of the oldest burial plot, together with the inscriptions on the stones. He restored a number of memorials, and in 1883 published a book “Keur van Grafstenen” (Selected Gravestones.) The cemetery web site has many resources and links. The cemetery has undergone a restoration and development project and has a visitors’ center. There is also a smartphone app guide.
Photographic documentation of the cemetery by Jono David
Read our December 2020 article about the cemetery
Zeeburg Jewish Cemetery
Founded in 1714, mainly for the poor, it has as an estimated 95,000 graves and is the largest Jewish cemetery in the Netherlands. Some 70 percent of those buried there are children under the age of 13. The cemetery is protected by a wall and locked gates, but most of it is heavily overgrown with reeds and brambles. Around two dozen gravestones have been restored and re-erected, at the front of the cemetery.
Read our article about the cemetery
Web site of the Foundation for the Restoration of the Zeeburg Cemetery
Muiderberg Jewish Cemetery
Googweg 6, Muiderberg
The oldest Ashkenazi cemetery in Amsterdam, founded in the 1640s. There are an estimated 45,000 graves.
See searchable database of burials from 1834-1954
ELSEWHERE IN THE NETHERLANDS
As noted above, the web site of the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam has extensive resources on Jewish history and heritage throughout the Netherlands. There is an interactive map and a detailed list of towns, cities and villages with links to historical information, photos, and information on heritage and heritage sites. We provide here material on places that have their own web sites or other web resources.
COEVORDEN
Synagogue
Kerkstraat 36
The small brick building with arched windows was constructed in 1879 on the site of an earlier synagogue, with a teacher’s residence next to it and a Jewish school opposite. After restoration in 1976, the Regional Music School was housed here. Since 2017 the synagogue has been used as a Jewish museum centering on local Jewish history.
Web site of the Synagogue Museum
DIEREN (GELDERLAND PROVINCE)
Synagogue
A small brick synagogue building with tall arched windows, dating from 1884. It was used as a smokehouse after World War II. The building was acquired in April 2007 by the “De Dierense Shul” foundation which began efforts to restore it. The building was reconsecrated on 7 March 2010. Now services of the liberal Jewish community take place in the synagogue.
Web site of the Foundation, with resources
ENSCHEDE
Prinsenstraat 14-18
The monumental synagogue complex dominated by a 12-sided dome was dedicated in 1928 and designed by Karel de Bazel and A. P. Smits. Listed as a national historic monument, it underwent restoration in 2001-2004 and is used by the Jewish community. It can also be toured by visitors.
See the synagogue web site (in Dutch and German)
See an architectural description of the synagogue by the Center for Jewish Art
See a history of the Jewish community and synagogue
GRONINGEN PROVINCE
Two general web sites provide detailed information about Jewish heritage, history and heritages sites in Groningen town and more than 20 other towns in Groningen province, in the north of the country: Appingedam, Bellingwolde, Bourtange, Delfzijl, Grijpskerk, Groningen Iepenlaan, Groningen Moesstraat, Hoogezand, Leek, Leens, Loppersum, Nieuweschans, Oude Pekela, Stadskanaal, Stedum, Ter Apel, Uithuizen, Veendam, Vlagtwedde, Warffum, Winschoten, Winsum, Zuidbroek
History of Jewish Groningen Foundation
Detailed information, particularly on Jewish cemeteries in more than 20 towns in the province. There is an interactive map as well as a searchable database of gravestones and names.
GRONINGEN (Town)
Folkingestraat 60
Tel: +31 (0) 50 312 31 51
The large twin-towered Synagogue was inaugurated in 1906, replacing an earlier synagogue that had been built in 1756. In 1952, the building was sold and became a dry-cleaning plant. Later it became a church and assembly hall of the Apostolic Fellowship. A Foundation established in 1973 oversaw the restoration of the building, which has functioned as a synagogue again since 1981, as well as a venue for events. It has a permanent exhibit on Jewish history and culture and is open to the public for visits and guided tours.
Two long-forgotten 19th century mikvahs were discovered in the Jewish community building in early 2014.
Groningen Synagogue Foundation web site
Groningen Page on the Jewish Historical Museum web site
Detailed information about Jewish history in the town.
JHE report on the newly discovered mikvehs
THE HAGUE
Synagogues
See a brief history of the synagogues in The Hague.
The former Great Ashkenazic synagogue, at Wagenstraat 103, was designed in neoclassical style by the architect Arend Roodenburg and dedicated in 1844. It suffered fire damage by survived World War II, used by the Nazis as a furniture warehouse. It was used for worship after the war, but was closed in 1975 and sold to the municipality because of the dwindling congregation. It subsequently was acquired by the Turkish Islamic Association and converted into a mosque. It is listed as a national monument,as a “Former synagogue of cultural and historical importance because of the associated memory of the Dutch-Israelite Congregation. It’s architectural history and typological valuable as a rare and intact preserved example of a synagogue in neo-classical style.”
Jewish Cemeteries
Jewish community web site with info on 3 Jewish cemeteries
Scheveningseweg 21a
Email: [email protected]
Founded in 1694 for both the Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities, and in use until 1906, the cemetery has around 2800 grave markers with inscriptions in Hebrew, Yiddish, Portuguese, and Spanish. As many as 10,000 are believed to be buried there, most of them without gravestones. The cemetery was restored and documentary in the 1980s by the Foundation for the Preservation of the Jewish Cemetery, whose web site includes a PDF of people buried in the cemetery, as well as other information.
Foundation for the Preservation of the Jewish Cemetery
Wassenaar Jewish Cemetery (Ashkenazic)
Opened in 1906 and currently in use.
See list of all people buried in the cemetery.
The Hague Jewish Heritage Foundation
Jagerstraat 4
2514BZ Den Haag
Email: [email protected]
Foundation established in 2013 to preserve and promote Jewish heritage in The Hague and environs.
Hague Jewish Heritage Foundation web site
The Hague page on the Jewish Heritage Museum web site
HARDERWIJK
Jodenkerksteeg 1,
3841 BP Harderwijk
Redbrick synagogue with peaked roof, opened in June 1840, to replace a smaller prayer room in a house on the site. There is a mikveh with two basins in the basement.
The synagogue operated until WW2. Today it is run by a foundation and houses a local Jewish history museum on its upper floor. Watch a video with a virtual reconstruction of the synagogue as it was in 1939.
There is a Jewish cemetery, founded in the 18th century, which today has around 70 gravestones. Watch a video about the cemetery (in Dutch)
Harderwijk Jewish Heritage Foundation web site
OISERWIJK
Founded in 1748, the cemetery underwent full restoration in 2013-2016. The work included removal of trees and other vegetation that threatened walls and other structures, installing a new gate and repairing the wall, and repairing or reerecting more than 6,000 gravestones.
The work was supervised by the Foundation for the Conservation of the Jewish Cemetery, which was established by volunteers and which raised some €275,000 for the project.
Watch a video about the cemetery and the restoration:
SLIEDRECHT (South Holland – Zuid-Holland Province)
“Dijk synagogue” — Dike Synagogue
Rivierdijk 51
3361 AD Sliedrecht
Tel: +31 (0) 6 109 78 191
Email: [email protected]
Dating from 1845, the synagogue, a small, cottage-like building with a peaked roof and arched windows, was built on a dike. Regular services were held until 1920. Seriously damaged during World War II, it was used after the war as the premises of a sack manufacturer, a greengrocer and a carpenter. A foundation was established in 1994 to prevent its demolition as part of a dike reinforcement project. The Foundation bought the building in 1997, dismantled it into 11 components and re-assembled it at a new site 80 meters away from the original position, with interior furnishings from a former synagogue at Zaltbommel. It was inaugurated in 2003 and now serves the small local Jewish community as well as for exhibitions and weddings. It is open to the public every second weekend of the month.
See English PDF file on the Synagogue and Jewish history of the town
Sliedrecht pages on the Jewish Historical Museum web site
UTRECHT
The Jewish community in Utrecht has jurisdiction over three Jewish cemeteries, in Utrecht and in the suburbs of Maarssen and Veenendaal. All are privately owned by the Utrecht Jewish Community; all are recognized as monuments; and all are
accessible to visitors only upon request to the community.
Jewish Cemetery in Utrecht
Established in 1808 — see video (in Dutch)
Founded in the mid-18th century and in use until 1922; it was restored in 2004.
Established in 1900 and maintained through regularly scheduled volunteer sessions.
VENLO
Mikveh dating from the first half of the 13th century, discovered in 2004, is the oldest physical trace of Jewish presence in the Netherlands. It was excavated and reassembled as a permanent exhibit in the Limburgs Museum.
Digital reconstruction video of the Mikveh
ZEELAND PROVINCE
MIDDELBURG
The Middelburg synagogue, a red brick building with arched windows originally built in 1705, is the oldest synagogue in the Netherlands outside of Amsterdam. During World War II the German occupiers used it as a warehouse for confiscated radio equipment. It was badly damaged by a British shell during the liberation and fell into ruin after the war. A foundation was set up for its reconstruction, and the building was restored in 1994. It is currently used again as a synagogue.
Jewish cemeteries
The Portuguese-Jewish Cemetery, located on Jodengang (Jews’ Walk) in Middelburg, was established In 1655 and used until 1721. Declared a national monument, it was restored in 1997-1998.
See list of burials in the cemetery
The Cemetery on Walensingel was established in 1705 and is still in use.
See list of burials in the cemetery