Restoration of the Nadelmann Gravesite
The gravesite of the Nadelmann family (family plot 1028) is located on the elongated southeast side of Field N 2, opposite Field S 2. Buried here are the merchant Abraham Nadelmann (*17.6.1831, † 3.1.1904) and his wife Jeanette Nadelmann, née Hirschfeld (*30.5.1835, † 9.10.1915). The family plot was purchased by the family when their daughter Emma Rahmer, née Nadelmann (*11.2.1857, † 15.11.1903) died. She was married to the merchant Wilhelm Rahmer (*29.8.1848, † 11.11.1927), who was the last person to be buried in this plot designed for four interments. Wilhelm Rahmer was the owner of the leather shop Gross & Rahmer, located at Alexandrinenstrasse 37, traders of coloured leather used in album and portfolio manufacture.
The metal ornamental lattice created around 1903, which framed the gravesite, is wrought iron work in the style of the Gründerzeit (“founders’ period”). The once extensive amount of imposing metalwork at the Weissensee Jewish Cemetery suffered severe losses during World War II, however, when the recycling of iron gates and railings was ordered to alleviate the shortage of metals for munitions. The front and side fences of the Nadelmann gravesite were also removed. The remaining metal structure, the rear wall about 4 meters long and about 2.60 metres high with insets of four inscribed panels, had lost its load-bearing capacity due to corrosion and had been lying on the gravesite for decades, as had the four panels.
The restoration of the Nadelmann gravesite is being carried out by the Friends of the Jewish Cemetery Berlin-Weissensee in collaboration with the Berlin Monument Authority and the Nadelmann family, who now live in the USA. The monument preservation measures carried out in 2019 included the professional restoration of the wrought iron back wall in a workshop and then its reconstruction in 2020, which included the four plaques with inscriptions for the members of the Nadelmann family buried here.
