Old Jewish Cemetery

Old Jewish Cemetery next to the Klausen Synagogue. The cemetery was in use from the mid-1400s to the 1780s. Since the ghetto was fairly restricted and space was at a premium, they built the cemetery… up. By piling graves on top of one another. Depending on who you ask, there may be as many as 12 layers of graves — well, sort of, since the older ones would be long since decayed.

It doesn’t help that the ghetto is built on low ground near the river, and thus more vulnerable to floods (the latest one hitting in 2002), which may explain why the stones are all askew. Gravestones of more important people were carefully preserved, though.