Jewish cemetery near Waibstadt, Germany, Jewish cemetery in Waibstadt, Germany.

The Jewish cemetery near Waibstadt lies in the Mühlbergwald forest and covers 233.32 ares with 2,556 gravestones, the oldest dated 1690 and the youngest 1940. West of the cemetery stands the octagonal domed mausoleum of Hermann Weil, with a memorial courtyard and a stairway in front.

The cemetery was established in the 17th century after Kraichgau Jews, barred from Christian burial grounds, had used Speyer (until 1435) and then Worms; Oberöwisheim opened in 1629 as an earlier alternative. Eighteen Jewish communities jointly created the Waibstadt burial ground, and by 1860 about 80 communities buried their dead here. The oldest of its 2,556 gravestones dates from 1690, the most recent from 1940.

The graveyard displays Hebrew inscriptions on its stones, showing the religious customs that mattered to the Jewish families who lived in this region. These writings tell the story of how people here remembered their dead.

The cemetery lies at Am Mühlbergwald, west of which stands Hermann Weil's octagonal domed mausoleum with its forecourt and stairway. The 1856 Taharahaus was demolished in 1958, so no building remains on the grounds; the 2,556 gravestones stand in the woodland. Parts of the stones were repaired between 1987 and 1993.

West of the cemetery stands the octagonal domed mausoleum Hermann Weil had built in 1924, after Jewish rite barred his urn from burial inside the cemetery itself. It held the urns of Weil, his Christian wife and her nurse Steffi Krauth; on 10 November 1938 it was desecrated and badly damaged, and the three urns remain missing. The city and forest office restored it in 1980–1983, with a further restoration in 2010–2012.