Press releases

• The Jewish community of Aachen receives 644,500 euros for urgently needed renovation work at the Jewish cemetery on Lütticher Straße.

• The funding was made possible in part by the broad support of Aachen's democratic political representatives in Berlin. Mayor Sibylle Keupen and Friedrich Thul from the Jewish community were delighted with the funding.

• The money will be used to renovate the mourning hall and residential building at the cemetery. This will promote the local culture of remembrance and preserve a monument that stands for Jewish life in Aachen.

It is a very special place in Aachen: Situated on the corner of Lütticher Straße and Körnerstraße, a place to pause for thought and a place of remembrance is revealed behind high white walls. The Jewish cemetery in Aachen. On Friday (January 24), Mayor Sibylle Keupen and other representatives of the administration, including Heinrich Brötz, Head of the Department of Culture, met with Friedrich Thul from the Jewish community in Aachen for a very special occasion. The Jewish community receives 644,500 euros from the federal and state governments. 402,500 euros come from the special monument protection program of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, while the remaining 242,000 euros come from the 2024 monument funding program of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for the preservation and maintenance of monuments. This will enable urgently needed renovation work to be carried out on the cemetery.

The funding was made possible in part by the broad support of Aachen's political representatives in Berlin. The administration supported the Jewish community in applying for the federal grant from the special monument protection program of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Olaf Müller, Head of Cultural Affairs, was particularly active in this regard. "Thanks to the joint efforts of the Jewish community, politicians and the city administration, we are standing here together today holding the funding decision in our hands. Once again, the good cooperation that has existed for decades has been proven and confirmed," said a delighted Mayor Sibylle Keupen.

On behalf of the community chairman Dr. Robert Neugröschel, who was unable to attend at short notice, Friedrich Thul, managing director of the Jewish Community of Aachen, explained: "The cemetery on Lütticher Straße has existed for over 200 years. It was not affected during the Nazi era. Today it describes a committed community that has grown over the course of many generations. It bears witness to the past and present culture of Jewish life in the city of Aachen."

Monika Krücken, head of the municipal heritage authority, explained: "Extensive research has been carried out in recent years on the original building fabric and the existing building stock, during which the historical development of the cemetery buildings was also examined in detail." This has provided new insights into the building history and construction phases of the building ensemble as well as some very high-quality furnishings and allowed interesting conclusions to be drawn about the development, significance and use of the building sections. The poor condition of the building also became increasingly apparent during various investigations.

The funding will now be used to repair the listed parts of the building. This concerns the mourning hall, the former cemetery caretaker's house, the entrance and the cemetery wall. The work on the monument is urgently needed due to the existing damage - for example water damage in the mourning hall. The monument authority of the city of Aachen is supervising the currently planned safeguarding and repair measures from a monument preservation perspective. The work should be completed by the end of 2026.

The restoration is also intended to ensure that the memorial site can be used beyond the active life of the cemetery. As there will soon be no room for new graves in the cemetery, the listed facilities should then be able to be used for other purposes. A council motion submitted by the democratic parliamentary groups in 2022 also shows the great interest of local politicians in a memorial site at the Jewish cemetery, in addition to the necessary renovation measures for monument protection.