International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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See also Mattersdorf.

Alternate/former names of town or village: Hungarian: Varoszalonak, Vas. About 50 miles from Vienna in Burgenland, the present total town population is about 400 families with no Jews.

Contract People: Information Bureau, Werner Glosl, Baumkircher Gasse1, A-7461 Stadtschlaining. Tel. 03355/ 22/ 013. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Dr. Gerald Maher, Austrian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is interested in the site. Web page: http://www.aspr.ac.at .

The earliest known Jewish community in town dates from the 15th century. The principal landmark of Stadtschlaining is a large castle from to the 13th century, now the site of the European University Center for Peace Studies. The formerly desecrated synagogue has been restored as a Peace Library. Schlaining (in Stadtschlaining-Hungarian name Varoszalonak) was one of the most powerful castles in the province. Emperor Frederick III presented it to the noble Andreas Baumkirchner in 1445. It later passed to the Batthyany Herrschaft. Dr. U. Illig who turned it into a museum, then saved much destruction in W.W.II, Today, it is an hotel and conference center as stated. Castle website: http://www.aspr.ac.at . The village of Stadtschlaining was unique in that it was a center for three faiths. The presence of such a strong castle as well as an "Antimony Works" (closed in 1990) in Stadtschlaining probably accounted for the large mixed population.

 

CEMETERY: The unlocked Jewish cemetery was restored as well. A beautiful granite gate entrance identifies it as a Jewish burial ground. Early Jewish presence can be traced to the 17th century when a synagogue was built. About 1848, Stadtschlaining had one of the larger Jewish settlements with Jews accounting for 40% of the population as part of Bezirk Felso-Eor, Vas Megye pre-1921. In 1873, it had 435 Roman Catholics, 586 Lutherans, 312 Jews and 76 Reformed. Altschlaining (now part of Stadtschlaining along with Drumling, Goberling and Neumarkt) had an additional 422 Catholics, 116 Lutherans and 7 Jews, all of whom worshipped in Stadtschlaining. Catholic and Lutheran records are available from the LDS as are Jewish records from 1841-1895 (LDS 0700744).

The Jewish population as of the last census before World War II was 4000. They lived in the Kultusgemeinde Oberwart-Schlaining in 1938. Historical events effecting the Orthodox Jewish Community are in book written by Gerhard Baumgartner cited below. The last known Jewish burial in the landmarked cemetery was about 1935 or 1936. There were three cemeteries in this area. This one was about five minutes walk from congregations that used it. Between houses, fields and woods, the flat land, separate but near other cemeteries, has a sign mentioning Jews in German and Hebrew with Hebrew inscriptions on gate or wall. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via continuous fence and a non-locking gate. The half-acre cemetery has six or eight stones and no known mass graves. Other stones were removed. The cemetery dates from 1902. The granite flat shaped stones and finely smoothed tombstones have Hebrew and German inscriptions. Used for Jewish cemetery only, is a a regional or national governmental agency probably owns the site. Properties adjacent are agricultural and residential. Before World War II, it had a substantial and integrated Jewish population. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose the same area. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II but not in the last ten years. Osterr. Institut Fur Friedensforschung und Friedenserziehung, an Austrian government funded organization, re-erected stones, cleared vegetation, and fixed gate in the 1980's. Possibly a regular paid caretaker gives care. No structures or threats Source: Regina Espenshade, Washington, DC 20008, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. completed survey on 26 April 2000 using a book by Gerhard Baumgartner entitled Geschichte Der Judischen Gemeinde Zu Schlaining published by the Osterr. Institut Fur Friedensforschung Und Friedenserziehung, 1988. Other documentation: Reis, Johannes. Ein Lesebuch Uber Juden im Burgenland Aus Den Sieben Gemeinden . Osterreichisches Judisches Museum, 1997. She visited the site in October 1999.