Scandinavia Special Interest Group (SIG)

FAABORG

by Phyllis Dahl

Warm thanks to Phyllis Dahl,
who visited Faaborg in April 2000, and
donated the photos to Scandinavia SIG.

The former synagogue
The Rabbi's house
In 1793 Lucas Abraham, 17 years of age, came to Faaborg from Schleswig. Three years later on 9 September 1796 he was granted permission to become a town merchant. Business thrived and his brothers, Joseph and Levin Abraham, joined him. Subsequently their sisters also moved to Faaborg with their husbands.

In the beginning of the 19th century Calmar Levin, Jonas Berlin, Nathan Isaac and Hartvig Isac applied for permission to establish a synagogue in Faaborg. Services at that time were held in a private home just outside the west gate of town. On 17 February 1804 permission was granted and an old half-timbered, two-storied building at Klostergade 12 was used as the first synagogue. In 1859 this building was torn down and a new synagogue built directly behind it.

In 1907 it was no longer possible to obtain a minyan. The synagogue remained unused until 1914 when the Mosaic Community in Copenhagen agreed to sell the building, which was subsequently remodelled and turned into a Masonic Temple. It is still in use to this day.

The rabbi lived in the house next to the synagogue at Klostergade 10.

The Cemetery (1795-1974)

On 12 December 1795 the congregation received permission to buy a small piece of land outside the town to be used as a cemetery. The first burial took place on 25 May 1806, when a daughter of Bendix Wulff, a town merchant, died.

The cemetery – the oldest on the island of Funen – is beautifully located on the old road to Svendborg and has a wonderful view over the fjord and the islands off the coast of Funen.

Approximately half (165) of the known burials are documented. Many graves were marked with memorials of wood, which have all but vanished. The majority of the remaining gravestones are quite legible with many containing inscriptions in Danish on the one side and Hebrew on the other.

For many years Jews from Nyborg, Assens, Odense and Faaborg were buried here. Cemeteries were established in 1825 in Assens and Odense.

In 1903, Rabbi Levin Moses Wallach was buried besides his wife, a granddaughter of Lucas Abraham.

The last burial was in 1974. At present there are no Jews living in Faaborg.

Copyright © 1999-2003 Scandinavia SIG - Reprinting or copying of any of the material on the Scandinavia SIG Website is not allowed without prior permission from Phyllis Dahl and the Scandinavia SIG Coordinator

Compiled and updated 21.5.2001